H 


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PRINCETON,  N.  J 


DS  149  . H4713  1904 
Herzl,  Theodor,  I860  1904 
A  Jewish  state 


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A  JEWISH  STATE 


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A  JEWISH  STATE 


AN  ATTEMPT  AT  A  MODERN  SOLUTION 
OF  THE  JEWISH  QUESTION 


BY 

THEODOR  HERZL,  LL.  D, 


REVISED  FROM  THE  ENGLISH  TRANSLATION  OF  MISS  SYLVIE  D’AVIGDOR, 
WITH  SPECIAL  PREFACE  AND  NOTES  BY 

J.  DE  HAAS 


NEW  YORK 

TH Ej  M ACC ABiE AN  PUBLISHING  CO. 

1904 


THEODOR  HERZL 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE 


Though  proportionately  heretofore  but  little  read 

or  studied,  the  pages  that  follow  this  introduction 

will  eventually  occupy  a  noteworthy  place  in  Jewish 

and  universal  history.  Whilst  the  author,  Dr. 

• 

Theodor  Herzl,  was,  confessedly,  not  moved  by  the 
novelty  of  the  Jewish  State  idea,  yet  he  was  in  the 
main  unconscious  in  the  winter  of  1895  of  the  par¬ 
entage  of  his  thoughts;  for  those  who  had  labored 
before  him,  excepting  George  Eliot,  were  compara¬ 
tively  obscure,  and  their  words  had  only  found  ac¬ 
ceptance  amongst  eclectic  bands  of  enthusiasts  in 
Eastern  Europe.  It  is,  however,  curious  that 
though  argumentative,  polemical  or  enthusiastic, 
none  of  the  forerunners  of  the  Jewish  State  were, 
in  the  real  sense,  visionaries;  and  this  brochure  is 
only  grandiose  in  the  simplicity  of  its  presentation 
of  an  idea,  and  historic  by  what  its  publication  has 
already  achieved.  Though  the  Jewish  State  idea 
may  be  Utopian,  wThich  its  advocates  deny,  its  au¬ 
thor  sketched  no  Utopia,  and  offers  no  picture  of  an 
ideal  human  future — it  was  sufficient  for  him  to 


vi 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


point  out  how  the  wounds  of  Israel  might  be  healed 
and  to  remove  the  chafing  which  the  conjunction  of 
Jew  and  anti-Semite  brings  about.  He  offered  a 
temporal  and  not  a  spiritual  salvation  to  a  suffering 
people,  though  those  who  regard  him  as  thereby 
doing  an  allotted  task  towards  a  destiny  divinely 
decreed,  are  not  without  reasonable  justification  for 
their  opinion. 

The  Jewish  position  became  so  critical  in  1890 
that  Baron  de  Hirsch  thought  out  his  Argentine 
plans,  and  began  founding  his  colonies,  in  the  pam¬ 
pas  grass  districts  of  the  Spanish  American  Re¬ 
public,  in  order  to  aid  the  Jews  to  remove  them¬ 
selves  from  persecuted  countries. 

The  rise  of  Ahlwardt  in  Germany,  the  break-np  of 
the  Liberal  party  in  Austria,  and  the  particular 
success  of  the  anti-Semitic  factions  in  Vienna,  the 
trial  and  sentence  of  Dreyfus  in  Paris,  and  the  im¬ 
mediate  lowering  of  the  position  of  the  Jews  in 
France  which  followed,  and  for  which  Drumont 
had  labored  partially,  the  failure  of  the  Argen¬ 
tine  experiments — these  facts,  and  others  of  lesser 
and  greater  degree  will  mark  out  the  first  half  of 
the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  as  black 
years  in  Jewish  history.  It  was  seeing  and  hearing 
these  things,  as  an  observer  rather  than  as  a  par 
ticipant,  that  Theodor  Herzl  came  to  the  Jewish 
people  with  an  old  thought,  “We  are  a  people — one 
people,”  and  an  old  corollary,  “The  restoration  of 
the  Jewish  State;”  unaware  that,  except  in  a  vague 
way,  there  was  at  least  fifteen  years  of  active  work, 
and  some  propaganda  behind  him.  Fearful,  per- 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


vii 


haps,  of  being  regarded  as  a  visionary,  he  vaguely 
designated  the  land  of  the  future  Jewish  State  sim¬ 
ply  as  “over  there.”  And  “over  there”  it  would 
undoubtedly  have  remained  had  not  the  “Jewish 
State”  responded  to  a  thought,  definite  and  concise, 
long  pent  up  in  Jewish  bosoms.  “Over  there”  must 
be  Palestine.  Herzl,  as  a  cool  thinker,  argued  that 
the  propelling  force  needed  to  create  a  Jewish  State 
exists  in  the  misery  of  the  Jews.  The  volume  of 
that  misery  is  unmistakable;  but  his  book  was 
taken  up  by  and  his  following  was  created  out  of  an 
element  who,  though  in  close  touch  with  misery, 
often  the  actual  sufferers,  found  within  themselves 
a  still  greater  motive  power  to  national  restoration 
than  misery:  to  wit,  love,  faith  and  hope,  a  bundle  of 
emotions  wrapped  in  the  praying  shawl  of  the  Jew; 
and  these,  when  spread  out,  make  up  a  flag  which 
can  only  float  in  the  breezes  of  Zion. 

This  “Jewish  State,”  therefore,  went  through 
such  violent  natal  sufferings  as  only  great  ideas 
suffer.  The  very  fact  that  on  this  vision  of  a  Jew¬ 
ish  State,  other  visionaries  wrote  yet  a  more  cloudy 
word:  Palestine,  was  sufficient  to  condemn  it  in 
the  eyes  of  most  Western  Jews.  They  had  from 
the  beginning  of  the  century,  in  the  endeavour  to 
reconcile  old  Judaism  with  modern  life,  passed 
through  several  phases,  sometimes  concurrently, 
sometimes  separated  and  distinct  from  each  other, 
— spirituality,  assimilation  and  science  (Judaism  is 
again  being  reduced  to  knowledge)  in  all  of  which 
the  Palestinian  and  the  one  people  theories  were 
absent,  obliterated  and  often  forgotten.  The  Jews 


Vlll 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


had  become  a  religious  community,  and  Judaism 
a  religion  with  an  extensive  ritual.  As  a  Western 
Jew,  Herzl  was  a  freak;  liis  book,  except  as  the 
dream  of  an  idle  moment — intolerable,  and  as  a 
political  suggestion,  unthinkable  and  absurd.  A 
popular  verdict  was  that  it  was  an  “egregious  blun¬ 
der,”  notwithstanding  which,  the  masses  being 
brought  into  touch  with  the  author,  listened  and 
approved.  For  the  first  time  in  modern  history  the 
Jewish  masses — it  was  the  first  opportunity  given 
them — began  to  move  of  their  own  accord.  And 
the  author  of  a  political  plan  became,  in  a  day  and 
a  night,  the  leader  of  a  Jewish  party,  which  decided 
to  use  modern  methods  to  attain  their  goal — Pales¬ 
tine.  Rabbis  might  proclaim  every  city  as  Zion; 
the  rich  might  frown  and  refuse  support — the  mod¬ 
ern  Zionist  movement  “leapt  full  bodied  into  be¬ 
ing,”  and  asserted  its  existence  six  months  after 
the  author  had  spoken  face  to  face  with  the  “poor 
and  lowly,”  who  offered  him  at  once  their  loyalty 
and  their  enthusiasm,  and  who,  linking  his  profes¬ 
sion  as  writer  to  his  doctrine  as  Jew,  regarded  him 
as  a  new  Ezra. 

Dr.  David  Kaufmann,  in  his  notable  criticism  of 
“Daniel  Deronda”  in  1879,  observed:  “Feelings  and 
sentiments  which  are  worthy  to  be  cherished  and 
preserved  in  the  nation’s  soul  against  all  the  influ¬ 
ences  of  time  are  wont  to  concentrate  themselves 
in  great  personalities,  and  to  impart  to  them  a  pow¬ 
er  of  attraction  before  which  moderation  and  half¬ 
heartedness  flv  like  leaves  before  the  storm.  The 
history  of  Israel  presents  a  number  of  such  figures. 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


ix 


Ezra  and  Nehemiali  succeed  to  the  Prophets  of  the 
Captivity;  John  of  Giskala  stands  beside  Judas 
Maecabaeus;  Akiba  ben  Joseph  defends  the  Star- 
Son  of  Bethar,  and  even  through  the  darkness  of 
the  middle  ages  the  fiery  pillar  of  Jehudah  ben  Levi 
gleams  forth.  Shall  we  some  day  be  able  to  say — 
‘and  so  on?’  ”  The  Jewish  masses,  whose  greatness 
is  that  they  have  miraculously  conserved  an  ideal, 
answered  this  question  by  their  acclaiming  Theodor 
Herzl  as  leader  of  the  Jewish  national  movement. 

And  from  the  moment  he  was  so  acclaimed, 
the  Jewish  State  had  ceased  to  be  a  paper  plan; 
indeed,  the  brochure  had  no  circulation  commensu¬ 
rate  with  its  effect — but  it  had  made  a  page  of  Jew¬ 
ish  history.  Between  the  printed  word  and  its 
objective  are  eight  remarkable  years  of  history; 
the  story  of  the  reuniting  of  the  elements  of  the 
Diaspora;  the  creation  of  a  Jewish  public  opinion; 
the  organization  of  unwieldy  and  widely  separated 
masses,  largely  ignorant  of  the  methods  of  modern 
political  life;  political  negotiations,  and  finally  po¬ 
litical  recognition  by  the  Great  Powers  of  the  loy¬ 
alty,  utility  and  representative  character  of  the 
movement — it  is  the  story  of  another  Exodus  with 
Israel  still  in  the  wilderness. 

Those  who  read  the  “Jewish  State”  on  its  first  ap¬ 
pearance,  either  rejected  its  teachings,  or  accepted 
them  with  the  eye  of  hope.  Those  who  will  now 
read  it  for  the  first  time  will  probably  be  guided 
by  the  answer  that  is  given  to  the  question,  “What 
has  been  accomplished  in  the  direction  of  a  ‘Jewish 
State’  since  this  book — for  wdiich  a  niche  in  history 


X 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


is  claimed — first  appeared  ?”  And  it  is  because  of 

that  question  that  this  preface  has  been  written. 

A  brief  chronological  table  will  supply  the  outline 

of  the  answer. 

1896,  April — Publication  of  English  edition  of  “Jew¬ 
ish  State.” 

1896,  June — Dr.  Herzl  visits  Constantinople;  on  re¬ 
turn  journey  received  at  Sofia  a  deputation  of 
Bulgarian  Jews. 

1896,  July — Dr.  Herzl  addresses  East  London  mass 
meeting. 

1897,  January — Founding  of  Zionist  organ,  “Die 
Welt.” 

1897,  February — Proposal  to  call  Congress  in  Mu¬ 
nich;  rabbis  protest. 

1897,  March — Zionist  Congress  convened  at  Basle. 

1897,  August — First  Zionist  Congress  held,  at  which 
the  national  platform  was  adopted: 


“The  aim  of  Zionism  is  to  create  for  the  Jewish  peo¬ 
ple  a  publicly  legally  assured  home  in  Palestine. 

“In  order  to  attain  this  the  Congress  adopts  the  fol¬ 
lowing  means: 

(1) .  To  promote  the  settlement  in  Palestine  of  Jewish 
agriculturists,  handicraftsmen,  industrialists  and 
those  following  professions. 

(2) .  The  centralization  of  the  entire  Jewish  people  by 
means  of  general  institutions,  agreeably  to  the  laws 
of  the  land. 

(3) .  To  strengthen  Jewish  sentiments  and  national  self- 
consciousness. 

(4) .  To  obtain  the  sanction  of  governments  to  the 
carrying  out  of  the  objects  of  Zionism.” 


1898,  August — Second  Zionist  Congress  held,  at 
which  it  was  resolved  to  found  Zionist  bank. 
1898,  November — Dr.  Herzl  and  Zionist  deputation 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


xi 


received  by  the  German  Emperor  at  Jerusalem. 

1899,  August — Third  Zionist  Congress  held. 

1900,  August — Fourth  Zionist  Congress  held  in  Lon¬ 
don,  and  stability  of  Trust  as  a  banking  concern 
assured. 

1901,  May — Dr.  Herzl  repeatedly  received  in  audi 
ence  by  the  Sultan  of  Turkey. 

1901,  December — Fifth  Zionist  Congress  held; 
scheme  of  organization  remodelled,  and  Jewish 
National  Fund  founded. 

1902,  January — Dr.  Herzl  again  received  in  audi¬ 
ence  by  Sultan  of  Turkey. 

1902,  August — Dr.  Herzl  appears  as  witness  before 
British  Royal  Commission  on  Alien  Immigration. 

1902,  August — Dr.  Herzl  again  received  in  audience 
by  Sultan  of  Turkey. 

1903,  January — British  Government  offer,  and  ex¬ 
pedition  is  sent  to  El  Arisch,  on  the  Egyptian  bor¬ 
der  of  Palestine. 

1903,  Julv — Dr.  Herzl  received  bv  M.  von  Plehve  and 
M.  de  Witte  on  behalf  of  the  Russian  Govern¬ 
ment. 

1903,  August — Sixth  Zionist  Congress  held,  and 
offer  from  the  British  Government  to  permit  Jew¬ 
ish  national  settlement  in  British  East  Africa. 

1904,  February — Dr.  Herzl  received  in  audience  by 
the  King  of  Italy  and  the  Pope. 

Even  in  the  bald  form  of  a  chronological  table,  it 
is  evident  that  the  record  of  those  who  hearkened 
to  the  “ Jewish  State”  idea  is  a  notable  one,  suffi¬ 
cient  to  claim  the  sympathy  and  support  of  every 
Jew  and  Jewess.  The  book  was  moulded  into  the 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


xii 

platform  of  1897.  in  the  framing  of  which  more  than 
one  cautious  brain  had  a  share;  and  in  turn  the 
question  arises  in  how  far  has  this  program  become 
living  fact.  A  comparison  of  these  facts  and  the 
author’s  idea  will  show  that,  in  as  far  as  he  shaped 
the  movement,  he  was  most  tenacious  of  his  ideas. 
The  work  lias  proceeded  much  ou  the  lines  he  sug¬ 
gested,  this  perhaps  by  reason  of  their  simplicity — 
for  much  that  has  made  the  Zionist  movement  grew 
up  and  around  him.  Those  who  joined  Theodor 
Herzl  in  the  effort  to  realize  his  plan  brought  with 
them  the  instincts,  hopes  and  desires  of  the  Jewish 
people,  thoughts  and  ideals  red  with  the  blood  that 
gave  them  birth,  truer  and  more  significant  of  that 
which  is  eternal  in  each  people  than  all  that  the 
study  and  the  school  room  can  suggest.  A  stu¬ 
pendous  work  awaited  those  who  proclaimed  Pales¬ 
tine,  as  the  third  part  of  the  thought,  one  people — 
national  Jewish  restoration.  Only  the  most  rudi¬ 
mentary  scheme  of  organization  was  established 
in  1897,  yet  it  called  forth  so  much  enthusiasm  that 
it  has  been  twice  revised  in  accordance  with  grow¬ 
ing  needs  of  a  movement  that  actually  circles  the 
globe,  an  organization  which  is  at  once  centripetal 
and  centrifugal,  and  yet  has  in  each  country  to  cor¬ 
respond  with  the  social  customs  of  the  people  and 
keep  within  the  laws  that  restrict  international 
and  even  national  organization  in  Eastern  Europe. 
Here  alone  is  a  task  for  a  generation,  and  room  for 
the  brains  of  the  most  able  organizers.  Yet  all  the 
rough  work  has  been  done,  and  the  second  clause 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


xm 


of  the  program  has  been  fulfilled  at  comparatively 
no  expense. 

The  self-volition  of  the  movement  checked  the  as¬ 
similative  thought  and  revived  the  Jewish  brother¬ 
hood  idea;  the  “bent  back”  of  the  Jew  grew  straight 
in  the  presence  of  the  Jewish  flag;  a  new  poetry 
and  a  new  prosody,  deep  with  the  feelings  that  stir 
a  people,  have  arisen;  a  school  of  young  artists  have 
given  themselves  over  to  the  creation  of  a  Jewish 
art;  others  have  planned  an  international  Jewish 
university;  a  cultural  movement — combated  for 
the  time  being  by  the  more  orthodox — has  spread 
so  strongly  as  sometimes  to  shake  the  main  move¬ 
ment  from  its  true  centre;  the  Hebrew  tongue  has 
found  need  and  occasion  to  blossom  into  a  living 
language;  and  with  the  national,  intellectual  re¬ 
naissance — which  sweeps  within  itself  the  revival 
of  conservative  Jewish  thought,  which  is  the  pres 
ent  phase  of  American  Jewish  life — has  come  a  de¬ 
sire  for  the  development  of  the  physical  powers  of 
the  Jews,  so  that  Jewish  gymnasiums  and  Jewish 
gymnastic  journals  exist  to  the  surprise  of  all  those 
wrho  know  the  Jew  only  as  a  brainy  creature.  The 
thousand  facets  of  a  national  movement  have  sent 
rays  of  light,  of  hope,  and  of  a  new  sense  of  security 
into  the  lives  of  an  erstwhile  broken  and  dispirited 
people.  In  eight  short  years  helpless  masses  have 
been  so  w^ell  taught  how  human  effort  can  accom¬ 
plish  great  things  that  they  have  rejected  the  pos¬ 
sibilities  of  immediate  aid  in  favor  of  the  task  of 
striving  for  independent  movement.  A  distracted 
and  divided  people  have  been  so  wrell  instructed  in 


XIV 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


the  thought  that  the  unity  of  Israel  is  greater  than 
all  the  differing  religious,  social,  economic  and  po¬ 
litical  views  of  the  individuals  who  make  up  a  na¬ 
tion,  that  the  Rabbis  of  Eastern  Europe  have 
entered  in  full  force  into  the  vanguard  of  the  move¬ 
ment.  The  third  clause  of  the  program  has  been 
literally  fulfilled,  though  much  remains  to  be  done. 

Palestine  has  not  been  repeopled;  the  settlement 
of  colonists  has  been  checked  rather  than  assisted, 
because  the  condition  of  settlement  is  governed 
by  the  preamble  of  the  platform.  Nevertheless,  a 
new  spirit  has  manifested  itself  in  Palestine,  as 
well  in  the  minds  of  those  who  have  dealt  with  the 
practical  administration  of  the  colonies,  and  a  Zion¬ 
ist  bank  has  been  started  in  Jaffa,  which  is  already 
giving  an  impetus  to  Palestinean  trade.  That  which 
interests  the  majority  who  would  like  to  weld  all 
the  details  into  broad  achievement  is  contained  in 
the  fourth  paragraph.  “The  sanction  of  the  gov¬ 
ernments”  has  been  gradually  obtained.  The  Ger¬ 
man  Emperor  was  the  first  to  express  his  “benevo¬ 
lent  attitude”;  French  and  English  ministers  have 
listened  with  sympathy;  the  King  of  Italy  has  ap¬ 
proved;  the  Pope  has  discussed;  the  Sultan  of  Tur¬ 
key  has  repeatedly  sent  for  Dr.  Herzl.  The  nego¬ 
tiations  were  inconclusive,  but  since  the  last  known 
phase  of  the  Constantinople  pourparlers  the  British 
and  Russian  governments  publicly  recognized  Zion¬ 
ism;  and  the  latter  offered  to  assist  in  the  Pales¬ 
tinian  negotiations  when  resumed.  From  paper 
plan  to  this  stage  is  a  remarkable  achievement  in 
eight  years,  and  the  strongest  opponent  of  the  cause, 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


xv 


the  London  Jewish  Chronicle ,  affirmed  in  Septem¬ 
ber,  1903,  that  in  its  opinion  “the  creation  of  a 
Jewish  State  in  Palestine  is  now  the  settled  policy 
of  European  statesmen,  who  are  dealing  with  the 
near  Eastern  question.” 

Far  be  it  from  one  who  has  abiding  faith  in  the 
Jewish  democracy  to  ascribe  all  these  things  to 
one  man  and  one  book.  The  living  element  in  a 
people  has  forced  an  old  thought  upon  a  new 
world;  and  such  an  element,  ever  young  in  its  hopes 
and  effort,  will  continue  to  force  it  upon  the  con¬ 
sciousness  of  an  ever  new  world,  until  one  genera¬ 
tion  shall  witness  the  triumph  of  this  idea.  Theo¬ 
dor  Herzl  revived  and  reorganized  the  Jewish  peo¬ 
ple.  This  is  his  achievement  and  the  message  of 
his  book.  It  caught  its  echoes  from  the  ages  that 
preceded  its  writing,  and  it  will  ring  on  into  new 
born  days  in  an  ever  accumulating  volume  of  sound; 

the  message  is — the  union  of  Israel  and  Zion. 

*  *  *  * 

Since  the  foregoing  was  written,  Theodor  Herzl, 
man  and  leader,  has  passed  away,  and  this  publica¬ 
tion  of  his  first  Zionist  writing  becomes  a  tribute 
to  his  memory.  His  death  has  proved  his  life’s 
work — he  built  beyond  himself — and  his  demise  is 
but  a  consecration  and  a  sanctification  of  Zionism. 
The  manner  of  the  man,  the  life  he  led,  all  this  is 
written  elsewhere.  In  these  pages  will  be  found, 
as  it  were,  his  testament,  his  thought  modified  by 
the  conditions  of  its  nationalization,  and,  it  is  the 
thought,  the  hope,  the  regenerative  idea,  which  is 
Theodor  Herzl’s  bequest  to  Israel. 

New  York,  Tammuz  25,  5664.  JACOB  HE  HAAS. 


AUTHOR  S  PREFACE 


The  idea  which  I  have  developed  in  this  pamphlet 
is  a  very  old  one:  the  restoration  of  the  Jewish 
State. 

The  earth  resounds  with  outcries  against  the 
Jews,  and  these  outcries  have  awakened  the  slum¬ 
bering  idea. 

A 

I  wish  it  to  be  clearly  understood  from  the  outset 
that  no  portion  of  my  argument  is  based  on  a  newr 
discoverv.  I  have  discovered  neither  the  historic 
condition  of  the  Jews  nor  the  means  to  improve 
it.  In  fact,  every  man  will  see  for  himself  that  the 
materials  of  the  structure  I  am  designing  are  not 
only  in  existence,  but  actually  ready  to  hand.  If, 
therefore,  this  attempt  to  solve  the  Jewish  Ques¬ 
tion  is  to  be  designated  by  a  single  word,  let  it  be 
called  a  “combination,”  certainly  not  a  “phantasy.” 

I  must,  in  the  first  place,  guard  my  scheme  from 
being  treated  as  Utopian  by  superficial  critics  who 
might  commit  this  error  of  judgment  if  1  did  not 
to  be  ashamed  of,  if  I  had  described  a  Utopia  on 
philanthropic  lines;  and  I  should  also,  in  all  proba- 


AUTHOR’S  PREFACE. 


XVII 


bility,  have  obtained  literary  success  more  easily 
if  I  had  set  forth  my  plan  in  the  irresponsible  guise 
of  a  romantic  tale.*  But  this  Utopia  is  far  less  at¬ 
tractive  than  any  one  of  those  portrayed  by  Sir 
Thomas  More  and  his  numerous  forerunners  and 
successors.  And  I  believe  that  the  situation  of  the 
Jews  in  many  countries  is  grave  enough  to  make 
preliminary  trifling  superfluous. 

An  interesting  book — “Freiland,”  by  Dr.  Theodor 
Hertzka — which  appeared  a  few  years  ago,  may 
serve  to  mark  the  distinction  I  draw  between  my 
conception  and  a  Utopian  one.  His  is  the  inge¬ 
nious  invention  of  a  modern  mind  thoroughly 
schooled  in  the  principles  of  political  economy,  and 
is  as  remote  from  actuality  as  the  Equatorial  moun¬ 
tain  on  which  his  dream  State  lies.  “Freiland”  is 
a  complicated  piece  of  mechanism  with  numerous 
cogged  wheels  catching  into  each  other;  but  there 
is  nothing  to  prove  that  they  can  be  set  in  motion. 
Even  supposing  “Freiland  societies”  were  to  come 
into  existence,  I  should  look  on  the  whole  thing  as 
a  joke. 

The  scheme  in  question,  on  the  other  hand,  in¬ 
cludes  the  employment  of  an  existent  propelling 
force.  In  consideration  of  my  own  inadequacy,  I 
shall  content  myself  with  indicating  the  cogs  and 
wheels  of  the  machine  to  be  constructed,  and  shall 
warn  them.  I  should  obviously  have  done  nothing 
rety  on  more  skilled  mechanics  than  myself  to  put 
them  together. 

Everything  depends  on  our  propelling  force.  And 


*  He  subsequently  did  so  in  “Altneuland.” 


XV1U 


EDITOR’S  PREFACE. 


what  is  our  propelling  force?  The  misery  of  the 
Jews. 

Who  would  venture  to  deny  its  existence?  We 
shall  discuss  it  fully  in  the  chapter  on  the  causes 
of  Anti-Semitism. 

Everybody  is  familiar  with  the  phenomenon  of 
steam-power,  generated  by  boiling  water,  lifting 
the  kettle-lid.  Such  tea-kettle  phenomena  are  the 
attempts  of  Zionists  and  of  kindred  associations  to 
check  Anti-Semitism. 

Now  I  believe  that  this  pow'er,  if  rightly  em¬ 
ployed,  is  powerful  enough  to  propel  a  large  engine 
and  to  despatch  passengers  and  goods;  the  engine 
having  whatever  form  men  may  choose  to  give  it. 

I  am  absolutely  convinced  that  I  am  right — 
though  I  doubt  whether  I  shall  live  to  see  mvself 
proved  to  be  so.  Those  who  are  the  first  to  inau¬ 
gurate  this  movement  will  scarcely  live  to  see  its 
glorious  close.  But  the  inauguration  of  it  is  enough 
to  give  them  self-respect  and  the  joy  of  freedom  of 
soul. 

I  shall  not  be  lavish  in  artistically  elaborated  de¬ 
scriptions  of  my  project,  for  fear  of  incurring  the 
suspicion  of  painting  a  Utopia.  I  anticipate,  in 
any  case,  that  thoughtless  scoffers  wTill  caricature 
my  sketch  and  thus  try  to  weaken  its  effect.  A 
Jew,  intelligent  in  other  respects,  to  whom  I  ex¬ 
plained  my  plan,  wTas  of  opinion  that  “a  Utopia 
was  a  project  whose  future  details  ^were  repre¬ 
sented  as  already  extant.’’  This  is  a  fallacy. 

Every  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  calculates  in 

* 

his  estimate  with  suppositious  figures,  and  not 


AUTHOR’S  PREFACE. 


xix 


only  with  such  as  are  based  on  the  average  returns 
of  past  years,  or  on  previous  revenues  in  other 
States,  but  sometimes  with  figures  for  which  there 
is  no  precedent  whatever;  as,  for  example,  in  insti¬ 
tuting  a  new  tax.  Everybody  who  studies  a  Budget 
knows  that  this  is  the  case.  But  even  if  it  were 
known  that  the  estimate  would  not  be  rigidly  ad¬ 
hered  to,  would  the  new  system  of  administration 
be  therefore  considered  Utopian? 

But  I  am  forming  greater  expectations  of  my 
readers.  I  ask  the  cultivated  men  whom  I  am  ad¬ 
dressing  to  set  many  preconceived  ideas  entirely 
aside.  I  shall  even  go  so  far  as  to  ask  those  Jew’s 
wrlio  have  most  earnestly  tried  to  solve  the  Jewish 
Question,  to  look  upon  their  previous  attempts  as 
mistaken  and  futile. 

I  must  guard  against  a  danger  in  setting  forth 
my  idea.  If  I  describe  future  circumstances  with 
too  much  caution,  I  shall  appear  to  doubt  of  their 
possibility.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  I  announce  their 
realisation  with  too  much  assurance,  I  shall  appear 
to  be  describing  a  chimera. 

I  will  therefore  clearly  and  emphatically  state 
that  I  believe  in  (the  practical  outcome  of  my 
scheme,  though  without  professing  to  have  discov¬ 
ered  the  shape  it  may  ultimately  take.  The  Jewish 
State  is  essential  to  the  wmrld,  it  will  therefore  be 
created. 

The  plan  would,  of  course,  seem  absurd  if  a  single 
individual  attempted  to  work  it;  but  if  worked  by 
a  number  of  Jews  in  co-operation,  it  would  appear 
perfectly  rational,  and  its  accomplishment '  would 


XX 


AUTHOR’S  PREFACE. 


present  no  insurmountable  difficulties.  The  idea 
depends  only  on  the  number  of  its  supporters.  Per¬ 
haps  those  ambitious  young  men,  to  whom  every 
road  of  progress  is  now  closed,  seeing  in  this  Jewish 
State  a  bright  prospect  of  freedom,  happiness,  and 
honours  opening  to  them,  will  ensure  the  propaga¬ 
tion  of  the  idea. 

I  feel  that  with  the  publication  of  this  pamphlet 
my  task  is  done.  I  shall  not  again  take  up  the  pen, 
unless  the  attacks  of  noteworthy  antagonists  drive 
me  to  do  so,  or  it  becomes  necessary  to  meet  unfore¬ 
seen  objections  and  to  remove  errors. 

Am  I  stating  what  is  not  yet  the  case?  Am  I 
before  my  time?  Are  the  sufferings  of  the  Jews 
not  yet  grave  enough?  We  shall  see. 

Now  it  depends  on  the  Jews  to  make  of  this  either 
a  political  pamphlet  or  a  political  romance.  If  the 
pres*  nt  generation  is  too  dull  to  understand  it 
rightly,  a  future,  a  finer,  and  a  better  generation 
will  arise  to  understand  it.  The  Jews  wish  for  a 
btate — they  shall  have  it,  and  they  shall  earn  it 
for  themselves. 


V 


CONTENTS 

PAGE. 

INTRODUCTION  .  1 

THE  JEWISH  QUESTION  .  16 

PREVIOUS  ATTEMPTS  AT  A  SOLUTION .  19 

CAUSES  OF  ANTI-SEMITISM  . .  21 

EFFECTS  OF  ANTI-SEMITISM  . 23 

THE  PLAN  .  25 

PALESTINE  OR  ARGENTINA?  .  28 

DEMAND,  MEDIUM,  TRADE  .  29 

OUTLINES  .  31 

NON-TRANSFERABLE  GOODS  .  32 

PURCHASE  OF  LAND  .  33 

BUILDINGS  .  35 

WORKMEN’S  DWELLINGS  .  36 

UNSKILLED  LABOURERS  .  37 

THE  SEVEN-HOURS  DAY  .  38 

THE  LABOUR  TEST  .  40 

COMMERCE  .  43 

OTHER  CLASSES  OF  DWELLINGS  .  44 

SOME  FORMS  OF  RAISING  NON-TRANSFERABLE 

PROPERTY  .  45 

SECURITIES  OF  THE  COMPANY  .  48 

SOME  OF  THE  COMPANY’S  FUNCTIONS  .  51 

PROMOTION  OF  INDUSTRIES  . . .  53 

SETTLEMENT  OF  SKILLED  LABOURERS  .  55 

METHOD  OF  RAISING  CAPITAL  .  55 


XXII 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE. 

LOCAL  GROUPS 

OUR  TRANSMIGRATIONS  .  G1 

EMIGRATION  IN  GROUPS  .  G2 

OUR  MINISTERS  .  G4 

RESPONSIBLE  MEN  OF  THE  LOCAL  GROUPS  .  G5 

PLANS  OF  THE  TOWNS  .  GG 

THE  DEPARTURE  OF  THE  MIDDLE  CLASSES .  G7 

THE  PHENOMENON  OF  MULTITUDES  .  G3 

OUR  INTRINSIC  QUALITIES  .  74 

HABITS  .  75 

SOCIETY  OF  JEWS  AND  JEWISH  STATE 

NEGOTIORUM  GESTIO  .  77 

THE  GESTOR  OF  THE  JEWS  .  SI 

THE  OCCUPATION  OF  LAND  .  83 

CONSTITUTION  .  SG 

LANGUAGE  .  88 

THEOCRACY  .  83 

LAWS  .  90 

THE  ARMY  .  91 

THE  BANNER  .  91 

RECIPROCITY  AND  CARTELS  .  91 

BENEFITS  OF  THE  EMIGRATION  OF  THE  JEWS..  93 


CONCLUSION 


97 


A  JEWISH  STATE 


INTRODUCTION. 

It  is  astonishing  how  little  insight  many  of  the 
men  who  move  in  the  midst  of  active  life  possess 
of  the  science  of  economics.  Hence  it  is  that  even 
Jews  faithfully  repeat  the  cry  of  the  Anti-Semites: 
“We  depend  for  sustenance  on  the  nations  whose 
guests  wre  are,  and  if  we  had  not  hosts  to  support 
us  we  should  die  of  starvation.”  This  is  a  point 
that  shows  liowT  greatly  unjust  accusations  may 
weaken  our  self-knowledge.  But  what  are  the  true 
grounds  for  this  statement  concerning  the  nations 
which  take  us  in?  Where  it  is  not  based  on  limited 
physiocratic  views  it  is  founded  on  the  childish  er¬ 
ror  that  commodities  pass  from  hand  to  hand  in 
continuous  rotation.  We  need  not  wake  from  long 
slumber,  like  Rip  van  Winkle,  to  realize  that  the 
world  is  considerably  altered  by  the  production  of 
new  commodities.  The  technical  progress  made 
during  this  wonderful  era  enables  even  a  man  of 
most  limited  intelligence  to  note  with  his  short¬ 
sighted  eyes  the  appearance  of  innumerable  new 


2 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


commodities.  The  spirit  of  enterprise  has  created 
them. 

Labour  without  enterprise  is  the  stationary 
labour  of  ancient  days;  and  typical  of  it  is  the  work 
of  the  husbandman,  who  stands  now  just  where  his 
progenitors  stood  a  thousand  years  ago.  All  our 
material  welfare  has  been  brought  about  by  men  of 
enterprise.  I  feel  almost  ashamed  of  writing  down 
so  trite  a  remark.  Even  if  we  were  a  nation  of 
promoters — such  as  absurdly  exaggerated  ac¬ 
counts  make  us  out  to  be — we  should  not  require 
another  nation  to  live  on.  We  do  not  depend  only 
on  the  circulation  of  old  commodities,  because  we 
produce  new  ones. 

We  possess  slaves  of  extraordinary  strength  for 
work,  whose  appearance  in  the  world  has  been  fatal 
to  the  production  of  hand-made  goods:  these  slaves 
are  the  machines.  It  is  true  that  workmen  are 
required  to  set  machinery  in  motion;  but  for  this 
we  have  men  in  plenty,  in  superabundance.  Only 
those  who  are  ignorant  of  the  condition  of  Jews  in 
many  countries  of  Eastern  Europe  would  venture 
to  assert  that  Jews  are  either  unfit  or  unwilling 
to  perform  manual  labour. 

But  I  do  not  wish  to  take  up  the  cudgels  for  the 
Jews  in  this  pamphlet.  It  would  be  useless. 
Everything  rational  and  everything  sentimental 
that  can  possibly  be  said  in  their  defence,  has  been 
said  already.  New  arguments  in  favour  of  a  cer¬ 
tain  condition  of  mind  or  of  feeling  answer  no  pur¬ 
pose.  If  one’s  hearers  are  incapable  of  compre¬ 
hending  them,  one  is  a  preacher  in  a  desert.  And 


INTRODUCTION. 


3 


if  one's  hearers  are  broad  and  liigh-minded  enough 
to  have  grasped  them  already,  then  the  whole  ser¬ 
mon  is  superfluous.  I  believe  in  the  ascent  of  man 
to  higher  and  yet  higher  grades  of  civilisation;  but 
I  consider  this  ascent  to  be  desperately  slow.  Were 
we  to  wait  till  average  humanity  had  become  as 
charitablv  inclined  as  was  Lessing  when  he  wrote 
“Nathan  the  Wise,”  we  should  wait  beyond  our  day, 
beyond  the  days  of  our  children,  of  our  grandchil¬ 
dren  and  of  our  great-grandchildren.  But  the 
world  spirit  comes  to  our  aid  in  another  way. 

This  century  has  given  the  world  a  wonderful 
renaissance  by  means  of  its  technical  acquisitions; 
but  at  the  same  time  its  miraculous  improvements 
have  not  been  employed  in  the  service  of  humanity. 
Distance  has  ceased  to  be  an  obstacle,  yet  we  com¬ 
plain  of  insufficient  space.  Our  great  steamships 
carry  us  swiftly  and  surely  over  hitherto  un visited 
seas.  Our  railways  carry  us  safely  into  a  moun¬ 
tain-world  heretofore  tremblingly  scaled  on  foot. 
Events  occurring  in  countries  undiscovered  when 
Europe  confined  the  Jews  in  Ghettos,  are  known 
to  us  in  the  course  of  an  hour.  Hence  the  misery 
of  the  Jews  is  an  anachronism — not  because  there 
was  a  period  of  enlightenment  one  hundred  years 
ago,  for  that  enlightenment  reached  in  reality  only 
the  choicest  spirits. 

Now,  I  am  of  opinion  that  electric  light  was  not 
invented  for  the  purpose  of  illuminating  the  draw¬ 
ing-rooms  of  a  few  snobs,  but  rather  for  the  purpose 
of  throwing  light  on  some  of  the  dark  problems 
of  humanity.  One  of  these  problems,  and  not  the 


4 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


least  of  them,  is  the  Jewish  question.  In  solving  it, 
we  are  working  not  only  for  ourselves,  but  for 

many  other  over-burdened  and  oppressed  beings 
also. 

The  Jewish  question  still  exists.  It  would  be 
useless  to  deny  it.  It  is  a  remnant  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  which  civilized  nations  do  not  even  yet  seem 
able  to  shake  off,  try  as  they  will.  They  certainly 
showed  a  generous  desire  to  do  so  when  they  eman¬ 
cipated  us.  The  Jewish  question  exists  wherever 
Jews  live  in  perceptible  numbers.  Where  it  does 
not  exist,  it  is  carried  by  Jews  in  the  course  of  their 
migrations.  We  naturally  move  to  those  places 
where  we  are  not  persecuted,  and  there  our  pres¬ 
ence  produces  persecution.  This  is  the  case  in 
every  country,  and  will  remain  so,  even  in  those 
most  highly  civilised — France  itself  being  no  excep¬ 
tion — till  the  Jewish  question  finds  a  solution  on  a 
political  basis.  The  unfortunate  Jews  are  now 
carrying  Anti-Semitism  into  England;  they  have 
alreadv  introduced  it  into  America. 

I  believe  that  I  understand  Anti-Semitism,  which 
is  really  a  highly  complex  movement.  I  consider 
it  from  a  Jewish  standpoint,  yet  without  fear  or 
hatred.  I  believe  that  I  can  see  what  elements 
there  are  in  it  of  vulgar  sport,  of  common  trade 
jealousy,  of  inherited  prejudice,  of  religious  intoler¬ 
ance,  and  also  of  pretended  self-defence.  I  think 
the  Jewish  question  is  no  more  a  social  than  a  re¬ 
ligious  one,  notwithstanding  that  it  sometimes 
takes  these  and  other  forms.  It  is  a  national  ques¬ 
tion,  which  can  only  be  solved  by  making  it  a  po- 


INTRODUCTION. 


5 


litical  world-question  to  be  discussed  and  controlled 
by  the  civilized  nations  of  the  world  in  council. 

We  are  a  people — One  people. 

We  have  honestly  endeavoured  everywhere  to 
merge  ourselves  in  the  social  life  of  surrounding 
communities,  and  to  preserve  only  the  faith  of  our 
fathers.  It  has  not  been  permitted  to  us.  In  vain 
are  we  loyal  patriots,  our  loyalty  in  some  places 
running  to  extremes;  in  vain  do  we  make  the  same 
sacrifices  of  life  and  property  as  our  fellow  citizens; 
in  vain  do  we  strive  to  increase  the  fame  of  our 
native  land  in  science  and  art,  or  her  wealth  by 
trade  and  commerce.  In  countries  where  we  have 
lived  for  centuries  we  are  still  cried  down  as  stran¬ 
gers,  and  often  by  those  whose  ancestors  were  not 
yet  domiciled  in  the  land  where  Jews  had  already 
made  experience  of  suffering.  The  majority  may 
decide  which  are  the  strangers;  for  this,  as  indeed 
every  point  which  arises  in  the  commerce  of  nations, 
is  a  question  of  might.  I  do  not  here  surrender  any 
portion  of  our  prescriptive  right,  for  I  am  making 
this  statement  merely  in  my  own  name  as  an  indi¬ 
vidual.  In  the  world  of  today,  and  for  an  indefinite 
period  it  will  probably  remain  so,  might  precedes 
right.  Therefore  it  is  useless  for  us  to  be  loyal 
patriots,  as  were  the  Huguenots  who  were  forced 
to  emigrate.  If  we  could  only  be  left  in  peace.  .  .  . 

But  I  think  we  shall  not  be  left  in  peace. 

Oppression  and  persecution  cannot  exterminate 
us.  No  nation  on  earth  has  survived  such  struggles 
and  sufferings  as  we  have  gone  through.  Jew-bait- 
ing  has  merely  stripped  off  our.  weaklings;  the 


6 


A  JEWISH  STATE* 


strong*  among  us  were  invariably  true  to  their  race 
when  persecution  broke  out  against  them.  This 
attitude  was  most  clearly  apparent  in  the  period 
immediately  following  the  emancipation  of  the 
Jews.  Later  on,  those  who  rose  to  a  higher  degree 
of  intelligence  and  to  a  better  worldly  position  lost 
their  communal  feeling  to  a  very  great  extent. 
Wherever  our  political  well-being  has  lasted  for 
any  length  of  time,  we  have  assimilated  with  our 
surroundings.  I  think  this  is  not  discreditable. 
Hence,  the  statesman  wiio  w7ould  wish  to  see  a  Jew¬ 
ish  strain  in  his  nation  would  have  to  provide  for 
the  duration  of  our  political  w^ell-being;  and  even 
Bismarck  could  not  do  that. 

For  old  prejudice  against  us  still  lies  deep  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people.  He  wiio  would  have  proofs 
of  it  need  only  listen  to  the  people  where  they  speak 
with  frankness  and  simplicity:  proverb  and  fairy¬ 
tale  are  both  Anti-Semitic.  A  nation  is  a  great 
child,  which  can  certainly  be  educated;  but  its  edu¬ 
cation  would,  even  in  most  favourable  circum¬ 
stances,  occupy  such  a  vast  amount  of  time  that  we 
could,  as  already  mentioned,  remove  our  ow7n  diffi¬ 
culties  by  other  means  long  before  the  process  was 
accomplished. 

Assimilation,  w7hich  implies,  in  addition  to  exter¬ 
nal  conformity,  in  dress,  habits,  customs,  and  lan¬ 
guage,  identity  also  of  feeling  and  manner — assimi¬ 
lation  of  Jews  could  only  be  effected  by  intermar¬ 
riage.  But  the  need  for  mixed  marriages  would 
have  to  be  felt  by  the  majority;  their  mere  recogni¬ 
tion  by  law  would  certainly  not  suffice.  The  Hun- 


INTRODUCTION. 


7 


garian  Liberals,  who  have  just  given  legal  sanction 
to  mixed  marriages,*  have  made  a  remarkable  mis¬ 
take,  which  one  of  the  earliest  cases  clearly  illus¬ 
trates;  a  baptised  Jew  married  a  Jewess.  At  the 
same  time  the  struggle  to  obtain  the  present  form 
of  marriage  accentuated  distinctions  between  Jews 
and  Christians,  thus  hindering  rather  than  aiding 
the  fusion  of  races.  Those  who  reallv  wish  to  see 
•  the  Jews  disappear  through  intermixture  with 
other  nations  can  only  hope  to  see  it  come  about  in 
one  way.  The  Jews  must  previously  acquire  eco¬ 
nomic  power  sufficiently  great  to  overcome  all  social 
prejudice  against  them.  The  aristocracy  may 
serve  as  an  example  of  this,  for  in  its  ranks  occur 
the  proportionately  largest  numbers  of  mixed  mar¬ 
riages.  The  Jewish  families  which  regild  the  old 
nobility  with  their  coin,  become  gradually  absorbed. 
But  what  shape  would  this  phenomenon  take  in 
the  middle  classes,  where  (the  Jews  being  a  bour¬ 
geois  people)  the  Jewish  question  is  of  far  more 
consequence?  A  previous  acquisition  of  power 
wrould  be  synonymous  with  that  economic  suprem¬ 
acy  which  Jews  are  already  erroneously  declared  to 
possess.  And  if  the  power  they  now  possess  cre¬ 
ates  rage  and  indignation  among  the  Anti-Semites, 
what  outbreaks  would  not  an  increase  of  power 
create?  Hence  the  first  step  towards  absorption 
will  never  be  taken,  because  this  step  would  in¬ 
volve  the  subjection  of  the  majority  to  a  heretofore 
scorned  minority,  possessing  neither  military  nor 
administrative  force  of  its  own.  T  think,  therefore, 


*  1895. 


8 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


that  the  absorption  of  Jews  by  means  of  their  pros¬ 
perity  is  unlikely  to  occur.  In  countries  which  are 
now  Anti-Semitic  my  view  will  be  approved.  In 
countries  where  Jews  are  now  tolerated,  it  will 
probably  be  violently  disputed.  My  happier  co¬ 
religionists  will  not  believe  me  till  Jew-baiting 
teaches  them  the  truth;  for  the  longer  Anti-Sem¬ 
itism  lies  in  abeyance  the  more  fiercely  will  it  break 
out.  The  infiltration  of  immigrating  Jews,  at¬ 
tracted  to  a  land  by  apparent  security,  and  the 
ascent  in  the  social  scale  of  rising  Jews,  combine 
powerfully  to  bring  about  a  revolution.  Nothing 
is  plainer  than  this  rational  conclusion. 

Because  I  have  drawn  this  conclusion  with  com¬ 
plete  indifference  to  everything  but  the  quest  of 
truth,  I  shall  probably  be  contradicted  and  op¬ 
posed  by  Jews  who  are  in  easy  circumstances.  In 
so  far  as  private  interests  alone  are  held  by  their 
anxious  possessors  to  be  in  danger,  they  can  safely 
be  ignored,  for  the  concerns  of  the  poor  and  op¬ 
pressed  are  of  greater  importance  than  theirs.  But 
I  wish  from  the  outset  to  prevent  any  misconcep 
tion  from  arising,  particularly  the  mistaken  notion 
that  my  project,  if  realised,  would  in  the  least  de¬ 
gree  injure  property  now  held  by  Jews.  I  shall 
therefore  explain  everything  connected  with  rights 
of  property  very  fully.  Whereas,  if  my  plan  never 
becomes  anything  more  than  a  piece  of  literature, 
things  will  merely  remain  as  they  were. 

It  might  more  reasonably  be  objected  that  I  am 
giving  a  handle  to  Anti-Semitism  when  I  say  we 
are  a  people — One  people;  that  I  am  hindering  the 


INTRODUCTION. 


9 


assimilation  of  Jews,  where  it  is  about  to  be  con¬ 
summated,  and  endangering  it  where  it  is  an  ac¬ 
complished  fact,  in  so  far  as  it  is  possible  for  a 
solitary  writer  to  hinder  or  endanger  anything. 

This  objection  will  be  especially  brought  forward 
in  France.  It  will  probably  also  be  made  in  other 
countries,  but  I  shall  answer  only  the  French  Jews 
beforehand,  because  these  afford  the  most  striking 
example  of  my  point. 

However  much  I  may  worship  individuality — 
powerful  personal  individuality  in  statesmen,  in¬ 
ventors,  artists,  philosophers,  or  commanders,  as 
well  as  conjoint  individuality  in  a  historic  group  of 
human  beings,  which  we  call  a  nation — however 
much  I  may  worship  individuality,  I  do  not  regret 
its  disappearance.  Whatever  is  unfit  to  survive 
can,  will,  and  must  be  destroyed.  But  the  distinc¬ 
tive  nationality  of  Jews  neither  can,  will,  nor  must 
be  destroyed.  It  cannot  be  destroyed,  because  ex¬ 
ternal  enemies  consolidate  it.*  It  will  not  be  de¬ 
stroyed:  this  it  has  shown  during  2000  years  of  ap¬ 
palling  suffering.  It  must  not  be  destroyed,  and 
that,  as  successor  to  numberless  Jews  who  refused 
to  despair,  I  am  trying  once  more  to  prove  in  this 
pamphlet.  Whole  branches  of  Judaism  may  wither 
and  fall,  but  the  trunk  remains. 

Hence,  if  all  or  any  of  the  French  Jews  protest 


*  Answering  Major  Evans  Gordon,  before  the  British  Royal  Com¬ 
mission  on  Alien  Immigration  in  August,  1902,  Dr.  Herzl  said: 
“I  will  give  you  my  definition  of  a  nation,  and  you  can  add  the 
adjective  ‘Jewish.’  A  nation  is,  in  my  mind,  a  historical  group  of 
men  of  a  recognizable  cohesion  held  together  by  a  common  enemy. 
That  is  in  my  view  a  nation.  Then  if  you  add  to  that  the  word 
‘Jewish’  you  have  what  I  understand  to  be  the  Jewish  nation. 


10 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


against  this  scheme  on  account  of  their  own  “as 
simulation,”  my  answer  is  simple:  The  whole  thing 
does  not  concern  them  at  all.  They  are  Jewish 
Frenchmen,  well  and  good!  This  is  a  private  affair 
for  the  Jews  alone. 

The  movement  towards  the  organisation  of  the 
State  I  am  proposing  would,  of  course,  harm  Jewish 
Frenchmen  no  more  than  it  would  harm  the  “as¬ 
similated”  of  other  countries.  It  would,  on  the 
contrary,  be  distinctly  to  their  advantage.  For 
they  would  no  longer  be  disturbed  in  their  “chro¬ 
matic  function,”  as  Darwin  puts  it,  but  would  be 
able  to  assimilate  in  peace,  because  Anti-Semitism, 
now  active,  would  have  been  stopped  for  ever.  They 
would  certainly  be  credited  with  being  assimilated 
to  the  very  depths  of  their  souls,  if  they  stayed 
where  thev  were  after  the  Jewish  State,  with  its 
superior  organisation,  had  become  a  reality. 

“Assimilated”  would  profit  even  more  than  Chris¬ 
tian  citizens  by  the  departure  of  faithful  Jews;  for 
they  would  be  rid  of  the  disquieting,  incalculable, 
and  unavoidable  rivalry  of  a  Jewish  proletariat, 


i 


driven  by  poverty  and  political  pressure  from  place 
to  place,  from  land  to  land.  This  floating  prole¬ 
tariat  would  become  stationary.  Many  Christian 
citizens — whom  we  call  Anti-Semites — can  now 
offer  determined  resistance  to  the  immigration  of 


foreign  Jews.  Jewish  citizens  cannot  do  this,  al¬ 
though  it  affects  them  far  more  nearly;  for  on  them 
tells  first  of  all  the  keen  competition  of  individuals 
carrying  on  similar  branches  of  industry,  who,  in 
addition,  either  introduce  Anti-Semitism  where  it 


INTRODUCTION, 


11 


does  not  exist,  or  intensify  it  where  it  does.  The 
“assimilated”  give  expression  to  this  secret  griev¬ 
ance  in  “philanthropic  undertakings.”  They  found 
emigration  societies  for  wandering  Jews.  There 
is  a  reverse  to  the  picture  which  were  comic,  if  it 
did  not  deal  with  human  beings.  For  these  char¬ 
itable  institutions  are  created  not  for,  but  against, 
persecuted  Jews — are  created  to  despatch  these 
poor  creatures  just  as  fast  and  as  far  as  possible. 
And  thus,  many  an  apparent  friend  of  the  Jews 
turns  out,  on  careful  inspection,  to  be  nothing  more 
than  an  Anti-Semite  of  Jewish  origin  disguised  in 
the  garb  of  a  philanthropist. 

But  the  attempts  at  colonisation  made  even  by 
really  benevolent  men,  interesting  attempts  though 
they  were,  have  so  far  been  unsuccessful.  I  do  not 
think  that  one  man  or  another  took  up  the  matter 
merely  as  an  amusement;  that  they  allowed  poor 
Jews  to  migrate,  as  a  herd  of  cattle  might  have 
been  let  go.  The  matter  was  too  grave  and  tragic 
for  such  treatment.  These  attempts  were  inter¬ 
esting,  in  that  they  represented  on  a  small  scale 
the  practical  forerunners  of  the  idea  of  a  Jewish 
State.  They  were  useful,  in  that  out  of  their  mis¬ 
takes,  may  be  gathered  experience  for  carrying 
them  out  successfully  on  a  larger  scale.  They 
have,  of  course,  done  harm  also.  The  transporta¬ 
tion  of  Anti-Semitism  to  new  districts,  which  is 
the  inevitable  consequence  of  such  artificial  infil¬ 
tration,  seems  to  me  to  be  the  least  of  these  evils. 
Far  worse  is  the  circumstance  that  unsatisfactory 
results  tend  to  cast  doubts  on  the  efficacy  of  Jewish 


12 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


labour.  But  the  following  simple  argument  will 
remove  this  doubt  from  the  minds  of  intelligent 
men.  What  is  inefficacious,  and  impossible  to  ac¬ 
complish  on  a  small  scale,  need  not  necessarily  be 
so  on  a  larger  one.  A  small  enterprise  may  result 
in  loss  under  the  same  conditions  which  would 
make  a  large  one  pay.  A  rivulet  cannot  even  be 
navigated  by  boats,  the  river  into  which  it  flows 
carries  fine  iron  vessels. 

No  human  being  is  wealthy  or  powerful  enough 
to  transplant  a  nation  from  one  habitation  to  an¬ 
other.  An  idea  alone  can  compass  that;  and  this 
idea  of  a  State  may  have  the  requisite  power  to  do 
so.  The  Jews  have  dreamt  this  kingly  dream  all 
through  tin*  long  nights  of  their  history.  “Next 
year  in  Jerusalem”  is  their  old  phrase.  Now  comes 
the  opportunity  to  prove  that  the  dream  may  be 
converted  into  a  living  reality. 

For  this,  many  old,  outgrown,  confused  and 
limited  notions  must  first  be  entirely  erased  from 
the  minds  of  men.  Dull  brains  might,  for  instance, 
imagine  that  this  exodus  would  be  from  civilised 
regions  into  the  desert.  That  is  not  the  case.  It 
will  be  carried  out  in  the  midst  of  civilisation.  We 
shall  not  revert  to  a  lower  stage;  we  shall  rise  to  a 
higher  one.  We  shall  not  dwell  in  mud  huts;  we 
shall  build  newer  and  more  beautiful  houses,  and 
possess  them  in  safety.  We  shall  not  lose  our 
acquired  possessions;  we  shall  realise  them.  We 
shall  surrender  our  well-earned  rights  only  for 
greater  privileges.  We  shall  not  sacrifice  our  be¬ 
loved  customs;  we  shall  find  them  again.  We  shall 


INTRODUCTION. 


13 


not  leave  our  old  home  before  the  new  is  prepared 
for  ns.  Those  only  will  depart  who  are  sure 
thereby  to  improve  their  position;  those  who  are 
now  desperate  will  go  first,  after  them  the  poor; 
next  the  prosperous,  and,  last  of  all,  the  opulent. 
The  precursors  will  raise  themselves  to  a  higher 
grade,  equal  to  that  class  whose  representatives  will 
shortly  follow.  Thus  the  exodus  will  be  at  the 
same  time  an  ascent  of  the  classes. 

The  departure  of  the  Jews  will  involve  no  eco¬ 
nomic  disturbances,  no  crises,  no  persecutions;  in 
fact,  the  countries  they  abandon  will  revive  to  a 
new  period  of  prosperity.  There  will  be  an  inner 
migration  of  Christian  citizens  into  the  positions 
evacuated  by  Jews.  The  outgoing  current  will  be 
gradual  and  continuous,  and  its  initial  movement 
will  put  an  end  to  Anti-Semitism.  The  Jews  will 
leave  as  honoured  friends,  and  if  some  of  them  re¬ 
turn,  they  will  receive  the  same  favourable  wel¬ 
come  and  treatment  at  the  hands  of  civilised  na¬ 
tions  as  is  accorded  to  all  foreign  visitors.  Their 
exodus  will  have  no  resemblance  to  a  flight,  for  it 
will  be  a  well-regulated  expedition  under  control 
of  public  opinion.  The  movement  will  not  only  be 
inaugurated  with  absolute  conformity  to  law,  but 
it  cannot  even  be  carried  out  without  the  friendly 
intervention  of  interested  Governments,  who  would 
derive  considerable  benefits  from  it. 

Security  for  the  integrity  of  the  idea  and  the 
vigour  of  its  execution  will  be  found  in  the  creation 
of  a  body  corporate,  or  corporation.  This  corpora¬ 
tion  will  be  called  “The  Societv  of  Jews.”  In  addi- 

t j 


14 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


tion  to  it  there  will  be  a  Jewish  Company,  a  self* 
supporting,  paying  body. 

An  individual  who  attempted  even  to  undertake 
this  huge  task  alone  might  be  either  an  impostor  or 
a  madman.  The  personal  characters  of  the  mem¬ 
bers  of  the  corporation  will  guarantee  its  integrity, 
and  the  business  capital  of  the  Company  will  prove 
its  stabilitv. 


These  prefatory  remarks  are  merely  intended  as 
a  hast}7  reply  to  the  crowd  of  objections  which  the 
very  words  “ Jewish  State”  are  certain  to  arouse. 
Henceforth  we  shall  proceed  more  slowly  to  meet 
further  objections  and  to  explain  in  detail  what 
has  been  as  yet  only  indicated;  and  we  shall  try 
in  the  interests  of  this  pamphlet  to  avoid  making  it 
a  dull  exposition.  Short  aphoristic  chapters  will 
therefore  best  answer  the  purpose.  - 

If  I  wish  to  substitute  a  new  building  for  an  old 
one,  I  must  demolish  before  I  construct.  I  shall 
therefore  keep  to  this  natural  sequence.  In  the 
first  and  general  part  I  shall  explain  my  ideas,  re¬ 
move  all  prejudices,  determine  essential  political 
and  economic  conditions,  and  develop  the  plan. 

In  the  special  part,  which  is  divided  into  three 
principal  sections,  I  shall  describe  its  execution. 
These  three  sections  are:  The  Jewish  Company, 
Local  Groups,  and  the  Society  of  Jews.  The  So¬ 
ciety  is  to  be  created  first,  the  Company  last;  but  in 
this  account  the  reverse  order  is  preferable,  be¬ 
cause  it  is  the  financial  soundness  of  the  enterprise 


INTRODUCTION. 


15 


which  will  chiefly  be  called  into  question,  and 
doubts  on  this  score  must  be  removed  first. 

In  the  conclusion,  I  shall  try  to  meet  every  fur¬ 
ther  objection  that  could  possibly  be  made.  My 
Jewish  readers  will,  I  hope,  follow  me  patiently  to 
the  end.  Some  will  naturally  make  their  objec¬ 
tions  in  an  order  of  succession  other  than  that 
chosen  for  their  refutation.  But  whoever  sees  his 
doubts  set  aside  ought  to  give  in  his  allegiance  to 
the  cause. 

Although  I  speak  of  reason,  I  am  fully  aware 
that  reason  alone  will  not  suffice.  Old  prisoners  do 
not  willingly  leave  their  cell.  And  we  shall  see 
whether  the  young,  whom  we  need,  have  grown  up 
to  us;  whether  the  young,  who  irresistibly  draw 
on  the  old,  will  transform  rational  motives  into 
enthusiasm. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION 


No  one  can  deny  the  gravity  of  the  Jews’  situa¬ 
tion.  Wherever  they  live  in  perceptible  numbers, 
they  are  more  or  less  persecuted.  Their  equality  be¬ 
fore  the  law,  granted  by  statute,  has  become  prac¬ 
tically  a  dead  letter.  They  are  debarred  from  fill¬ 
ing  even  moderately  high  positions,  either  in  the 
army,  or  in  any  public  or  private  capacity.  And 
attempts  are  made  to  crowd  them  out  of  business 
also.  “No  dealing  with  Jews!” 

Attacks  in  Parliaments,  in  assemblies,  in  the 
press,  in  the  pulpit,  in  the  streets,  on  journeys — for 
example,  their  exclusion  from  certain  hotels — even 
in  places  of  recreation,  become  daily  more  numer¬ 
ous,  the  forms  of  persecution  varying  according  to 
the  countries  in  which  they  occur.  In  Russia,  im¬ 
positions  are  levied  on  Jewish  villages;  in  Rouma- 
nia,  a  few  human  beings  are  put  to  death;  in  Ger-  x 
many,  they  get  a  good  beating  when  the  occasion 
serves;  in  Austria,  Anti-Semites  exercise  terrorism 
over  all  public  life;  in  Paris,  they  are  shut  out  of 
the  so-called  best  social  circles  and  excluded  from 
clubs.  Shades  of  Anti-Jewish  feeling  are  innu¬ 
merable.  But  this  is  not  to  be  an  attempt  to  make 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


17 


out  a  doleful  category  of  Jewish  hardships;  it  is 
futile  to  linger  over  details,  however  painful  they 
may  be. 

I  do  not  intend  to  awaken  sympathetic  emotions 
on  our  behalf.  That  would  be  a  foolish,  futile,  and 
undignified  proceeding.  I  shall  content  myself 
with  putting  the  following  questions  to  the  Jews: 
Is  it  true  that,  in  countries  where  we  live  in  per¬ 
ceptible  numbers,  the  position  of  Jewish  lawyers, 
doctors,  men  of  science,  teachers,  and  officials  of 
all  descriptions,  becomes  daily  more  intolerable? 
True,  that  the  Jewish  middle  classes  are  seriously 
threatened?  True,  that  the  passions  of  the  mob 
are  incited  against  our  wealthy  representatives? 
True,  that  our  poor  endure  greater  sufferings  than 
any  other  proletariat? 

I  think  that  this  external  pressure  makes  itself 
felt  everywhere..  In  our  upper  classes  it  causes 
unpleasantness,  in  our  middle  classes  continual  and 
grave  anxieties,  in  our  lower  classes  absolute 
despair. 

Everything  tends,  in  fact,  to  one  and  the  same 
conclusion,  which  is  clearly  enunciated  in  that 
classic  Berlin  phrase:  “Juden  raus!”  (Out  with 
the  Jews!) 

I  shall  now  put  the  Jewish  Question  in  the  curtest 
possible  form:  Are  we  to  “get  out”  now?  And  if 
so,  to  what  place? 

Or,  may  we  yet  remain?  And  if  so,  how  long? 

Let  us  first  settle  the  point  of  staying  where  we 
are.  Can  we  hope  for  better  days,  can  we  possess 
our  souls  in  patience,  can  we  wait  in  pious  resigna- 


18 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


tion  till  the  princes  and  peoples  of  this  earth  are 
more  mercifully  disposed  towards  us?  I  say  that 
we  cannot  hope  for  a  change  in  the  current  of  feel¬ 
ing.  And  why  not?  Were  we  as  near  to  the  hearts 
of  princes  as  are  their  other  subjects,  even  so  they 
could  not  protect  us.  They  would  only  feed  popu- 
lar  hatred  of  Jews  by  showing  us  too  much  favour. 
By  “too  much,”  I  really  mean  less  than  is  claimed 

as  a  right  by  every  ordinary  citizen,  and  by  every 
tribe. 

Every  nation  in  whose  midst  Jews  live  is,  either 
covertly  or  openly,  Anti-Semitic. 

The  common  people  have  not,  and  indeed  cannot 
have,  any  historic  comprehension.  They  do  not 
know  that  the  sins  of  the  Middle  Ages  are  now 
being  visited  on  the  nations  of  Europe.  We  are 
what  the  Ghetto  made  us.  We  have  doubtless  at¬ 
tained  pre-eminence  in  finance,  because  mediaeval 
conditions  drove  us  to  it.  The  same  process  is  now 
being  repeated.  Modern  conditions  force  us  again 
into  finance,  now  the  stock-exchange,  by  keeping  us 
out  of  all  other  branches  of  industry.  Being  on  the 
stock-exchange,  we  are  therefore  again  considered 
contemptible.  At  the  same  time  we  continue  to 
produce  an  abundance  of  mediocre  intellects  which 
finds  no  outlet,  and  this  endangers  our  social  posi¬ 
tion  as  much  as  does  our  increasing  wealth.  Edu¬ 
cated  Jews  without  means  are  now  fast  becoming 
Socialists.  Hence  we  are  certain  to  suffer  verv 
severely  in  the  struggle  between  classes,  because 
we  stand  in  the  most  exposed  position  in  the  camps 
of  both  Socialists  and  capitalists. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION.  ly 

f 

»■  * 

l 

PREVIOUS  ATTEMPTS  AT  A  SOLUTION 

The  artificial  means  heretofore  employed  to  over¬ 
come  the  troubles  of  Jews  have  been  either  too 
petty — such  as  attempts  at  colonisation,  or  mis¬ 
taken  in  principle — such  as  attempts  to  convert  the 
Jews  into  peasants  in  their  present  homes. 

What  is  the  result  of  transporting  a  few  thousand 
Jews  to  another  country?  Either  they  come  to 
grief  at  once,  or  prosper,  and  then  their  prosperity 
creates  Anti-Semitism.  We  have  already  discussed 
these  attempts  to  divert  poor  Jews  to  fresh  dis¬ 
tricts.  This  diversion  is  clearly  inadequate  and 
futile,  if  it  does  not  actually  defeat  its  own  ends; 
for  it  merely  protracts  and  postpones  a  solution, 
and  perhaps  even  aggravates  difficulties. 

Whoever  were  to  attempt  a  conversion  of  the 
Jew  into  a  husbandman  would  be  making  an 
extraordinary  mistake.  For  a  peasant  is  a  his¬ 
torical  category,  as  is  proved  by  his  costume,  which 
in  some  countries  he  has  worn  for  centuries;  and  by 
his  tools,  which  are  identical  with  those  used  by  his 
earliest  forefathers.  His  plough  is  unchanged;  he 
carries  the  seed  in  his  apron;  mows  with  the  his¬ 
torical  scythe,  and  threshes  with  the,  time-honoured 

flail.  But  we  know  that  all  this  can  be  done  bv 

• 

machinery.  The  agrarian  question  is  only  a  ques¬ 
tion  of  machinery.  America  must  conquer  Europe, 
in  the  same  way  as  large  landed  possessions  absorb 
small  ones. 

The  peasant  is  consequently  a  type  which  is  in 
course  of  extinction.  Whenever  he  is  artificially 


20 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


% 

preserved,  it  is  done  on  account  of  the  political  in¬ 
terests  which  he  is  intended  to  serve.  It  is  absurd, 
and  indeed  impossible,  to  make  modern  peasants  on 
the  old  pattern.  No  one  is  wealthy  or  powerful 
enough  to  make  civilisation  take  a  single  retrograde 
step.  The  mere  preservation  of  obsolete  institu¬ 
tions  is  a  task  severe  enough  to  require  the  enforce¬ 
ment  of  all  the  despotic  measures  of  an  autocrat¬ 
ically  governed  State. 

Are  we  therefore  to  credit  Jews,  who  are  intelli¬ 
gent,  with  a  desire  to  become  peasants  of  the  old 
type?  One  might  just  as  well  say  to  them:  “Here 
is  a  cross-bow;  now  go  to  Avar!”  What?  with  a 
cross-bow,  while  the  others  have  rifles  and  Maxim 
guns?  Under  these  circumstances  the  Jews  are 
perfectly  justified  in  refusing  to  stir  Avlien  people 
try  to  agrarianise  them.  A  cross-bow  is  a  beautiful 
weapon,  it  inspires  me  with  mournful  feelings 
when  I  have  time  to  give  way.  But  it  belongs 
rightly  in  a  museum. 

Now,  there  certainly  are  districts  Avhere  desper¬ 
ate  Jews  go  out,  or  at  any  rate  are  willing  to  go  out, 
and  till  the  soil.  And  a  little  observation  shows 
that  these  districts — such  as  portions  of  Hessen  in 
Germany,  and  some  provinces  in  Russia — these  very 
districts  are  the  principal  seats  of  Anti-Semitism. 

For  the  world’s  reformers,  who  send  the  JeAVS  to 
the  plough,  forget  a  very  important  person,  who  has 
a  decided  objection  to  seeing  them  there.  This  per¬ 
son  is  the  agriculturist.  And  the  agriculturist  is 
also  perfectly  justified  in  his  objections.  For  the 
tax  on  land,  the  risks  attached  to  crops,  the  press- 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


21 


ure  of  large  proprietors  who  cheapen  labour,  and 
American  competition  in  particular,  combine  to 
make  his  life  hard  enough.  The  duties  on  corn  can¬ 
not  go  on  increasing  indefinitely.  Nor  can  the 
manufacturer  be  allowed  to  starve;  his  political  in¬ 
fluence  is,  in  fact,  in  the  ascendant,  and  he  must 
therefore  be  treated  with  additional  consideration. 

All  these  difficulties  are  well  known,  therefore  I 
only  referred  to  them  cursorily.  I  merely  wanted 
to  indicate  clearly  how  futile  had  been  past  at¬ 
tempts — most  of  them  well  intentionecl — to  solve 
the  Jewish  Question.  Neither  a  diversion  of  the 
stream,  nor  an  artificial  depression  of  the  intellect¬ 
ual  level  of  our  proletariat,  will  overcome  the  diffi¬ 
culty.  The  supposed  infallible  expedient  of  assimi¬ 
lation  has  already  been  dealt  with. 

We  cannot  get  the  better  of  Anti-Semitism  by  any 
of  these  methods.  It  cannot  die  out  so  long  as  its 
causes  are  not  removed.  Are  they  removable? 


CAUSES  OF  ANTI-SEMITISM. 

We  shall  not  again  touch  on  those  causes  which 
are  a  result  of  temperament,  prejudice  and  limited 
views,  but  shall  here  restrict  ourselves  to  political 
and  economic  causes  alone.  Modern  Anti-Semitism 
is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  religious  persecu¬ 
tion  of  the  Jews  of  former  times.  It  does  occasion¬ 
ally  take  a  somewhat  religious  bias,  but  the  main 
current  of  the  aggressive  movement  has  now 
changed.  In  the  principal  countries  where  Anti- 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


22 

Semitism  prevails,  it  does  so  as  a  result  of  the 
emancipation  of  the  Jews.  When  civilised  nations 
awoke  to  the  inhumanity  of  exclusive  legislation 
and  enfranchised  us,  our  enfranchisement  came  too 
late.  It  was  no  longer  possible  legally  to  remove 
our  disabilities  in  our  old  homes.  For  we  had, 
curiously  enough,  developed  while  in  the  Ghetto 
into  a  bourgeois  people,  and  we  stepped  out  of  it 
only  to  enter  into  fierce  competition  with  the  middle 
classes.  Hence,  our  emancipation  set  us  suddenly 
within  this  middle-class  circle,  where  we  have  a 
double  pressure  to  sustain,  from  within  and  from 
without.  The  Christian  bourgeoisie  would  not  be 
unwilling  to  cast  us  as  a  sacrifice  to  Socialism, 
though  that  would  not  greatly  improve  matters. 
At  the  same  time,  the  equal  rights  of  Jews  before 
the  law  cannot  be  withdrawn  where  they  have  once 
been  conceded.  Not  only  because  their  withdrawal 
would  be  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  our  age,  but  also 
because  it  would  immediately  drive  all  Jews,  rich 

and  poor  alike,  into  the  ranks  of  the  revolutionary 
party. 

Nothing  effectual  can  really  be  done  to  our  injury 
In  old  days  our  jewels  were  seized.  How  is  our 
movable  property  to  be  got  hold  of  now?  It  is 
comprised  in  printed  papers  which  are  scattered 
over  the  world,  locked  up  maybe  in  the  coffers  of 
Christians.  It  is  of  course  possible  to  get  at  shares 
and  debentures  in  railways,  banks  and  industrial 
concerns  of  all  descriptions,  by  taxation,  and 
where  the  progressive  income-tax  is  in  force,  all  our 
realised  property  can  eventually  be  laid  hold  of. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


23 


• 

But  all  these  efforts  cannot  be  directed  against 
Jews  alone,  and  where  they  have  nevertheless  been 
made,  severe  economic  crises  with  far-reaching  ef¬ 
fects  have  been  their  immediate  consequence.  The 
very  impossibility  of  getting  at  the  Jews  nourishes 
and  embitters  hatred  of  them.  Anti-Semitism  in¬ 
creases  day  by  day  and  hour  by  hour  among  the  na¬ 
tions;  indeed,  it  is  bound  to  increase,  because  the 
causes  of  its  growth  continue  to  exist,  and  cannot 
be  removed.  Its  remote  cause  is  our  loss  of  the 
power  of  assimilation  during  the  Middle  Ages;  its 
immediate  cause  is  our  excessive  production  of 
mediocre  intellects,  who  cannot  find  an  outlet  down¬ 
wards  or  upwards — that  is  to  say,  no  wholesome 
outlet  in  either  direction.  When  we  sink,  we  be¬ 
come  a  revolutionary  proletariat,  the  subordinate 
officers  of  the  revolutionary  party;  when  we  rise, 
there  rises  also  our  terrible  power  of  the  purse. 

EFFECTS  OF  ANTI-SEMITISM 

The  oppression  we  endure  does  not  improve  us, 
for  we  are  not  a  whit  better  than  ordinary  people. 
It  is  true  that  wre  do  not  love  our  enemies;  but  he 
alone  who  can  conquer  himself  dare  reproach  us 
with  that  fault.  Oppression  naturally  creates  hos¬ 
tility  against  oppressors,  and  our  hostility  aggra¬ 
vates  the  pressure.  It  is  impossible  to  escape  from 
this  eternal  round. 

“No!”  some  soft-hearted  visionaries  will  say;  “no, 
it  is  possible!  Possible  by  means  of  the  ultimate 
perfection  of  humanity.” 


24 


4  JEWISH  STATE. 


Is  it  worth  while  pointing  out  the  sentimental 

/ 

folly  of  this  view?  He  who  would  found  his  hope 
for  improved  conditions  on  the  ultimate  perfection 
of  humanity,  would  indeed  be  painting  a  Utopia! 

I  referred  previously  to  our  “assimiliation” ;  I  do 
not  for  a  moment  wish  to  imply  that  I  desire  such 
an  end.  Our  national  character  is  too  historically 
famous,  and,  spite  of  every  degradation,  too  fine,  to 
make  its  annihilation  desirable.  W e  might  perhaps 
be  able  to  merge  ourselves  entirely  into  surround¬ 
ing  races,  if  these  were  to  leave  us  in  peace  for  a 
space  of  two  generations.  But  they  will  not  leave 
us  in  peace.  For  a  little  period  they  manage  to 
tolerate  us,  and  then  their  hostility  breaks  out 
again  and  again.  The  world  is  provoked  by  our 
prosperity,  because  it  has  for  many  centuries  been 
accustomed  to  consider  us  as  the  most  contemptible 
among  the  poverty-stricken.  It  forgets,  in  its  ig¬ 
norance  and  narrowness  of  heart,  that  prosperity 
weakens  our  Judaism  and  extinguishes  our  pecul¬ 
iarities.  It  is  only  pressure  that  forces  us  back  to 
the  parent  stem;  it  is  only  hatred  encompassing  us 
that  makes  us  strangers  once  more. 

Thus,  whether  we  like  it  or  not,  we  are  now,  and 
shall  henceforth  remain,  a  historic  group  with  un¬ 
mistakable  characteristics  common  to  us  all. 

We  are  one  people — our  enemies  have  made  us 
one  in  our  despite,  as  repeatedly  happens  in  history. 
Distress  binds  us  together,  and,  thus  united,  we 
suddenly  discover  our  strength.  Yes,  we  are  strong 
enough  to  form  a  State,  and  a  model  State.  We 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


25 


possess  all  human  and  material  resources  necessary 

« 

for  the  purpose. 

This  is  the  strictly  appropriate  place  for  an  ac¬ 
count  of  what  has  been  somewhat  rudely  termed 
our  human  material.  But  it  would  not  be  appre- 
.  dated  till  the  broad  lines  of  the  plan,  on  which 
everything  depends,  had  first  been  marked  out. 

THE  PLAN 

The  whole  plan  is  in  its  essence  perfectly  simple, 
as  it  must  necessarily  be  if  it  is  to  come  within  the 
comprehension  of  all. 

Let  the  sovereignty  be  granted  us  over  a  portion 
of  the  globe  large  enough  to  satisfy  the  reasonable 
requirements  of  a  nation;  the  rest  we  shall  manage 
for  ourselves. 

The  creation  of  a  new  State  is  neither  ridiculous 
nor  impossible.  We  have  in  our  day  witnessed  the 
process  in  connection  with  nations  which  were  not 
in  the  bulk  of  the  middle  class,  but  poorer,  less  edu¬ 
cated,  and  consequently  weaker  than  ourselves. 
The  Governments  of  all  countries  scourged  by  Anti- 
Semitism  will  serve  tlieir  own  interests  in  assist¬ 
ing  us  to  obtain  the  sovereignty  we  want. 

The  plan,  simple  in  design,  but  complicated  in 
execution,  will  be  carried  out  by  two  mediums:  the 
Society  of  Jews  and  the  Jewish  Company.* 

The  Society  of  Jews  will  do  the  preparatory  work 
in  the  domains  of  science  and  politics,  which  the 
Jewish  Company  will  afterwards  practically  apply 

*  These  became  subsequently  the  Zionist  movement  and  the 
Jewish  Colonial  Trust,  Ltd.,  respectively. 


26 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


The  Jewish  Company  will  see  to  the  realisation 
of  the  business  interests  of  departing  Jews,  and  will 
organise  commerce  and  trade  in  the  new  country. 

We  must  not  imagine  the  departure  of  the  Jews 
to  be  a  sudden  one.  It  will  be  gradual,  continuous, 
and  will  cover  many  decades.  The  poorest  will  go 
first  to  cultivate  the  soil.  In  accordance  with  a 
preconcerted  plan,  they  will  construct  roads, 
bridges,  railways,  and  telegraphs;  regulate  rivers, 
and  build  their  own  habitations;  their  labour  will 
create  trade,  trade  will  create  markets,  and  markets 
will  attract  new  settlers;  for  every  man  will  go  vol¬ 
untarily,  at  his  own  expense  and  his  own  risk.  The 
labour  expended  on  the  land  will  enhance  its  value, 
and  the  Jews  will  soon  perceive  that  a  new  and  per¬ 
manent  sphere  of  operation  is  opening  here  for  that 
spirit  of  enterprise  which  has  heretofore  met  only 
with  hatred  and  obloquy. 

If  we  wish  to  found  a  State  to-dav,  we  shall  not 
do  it  in  the  wav  which  would  have  been  the  onlv 

«/  c 

possible  one  a  thousand  years  ago.  It  is  foolish  to 
revert  to  old  stages  of  civilisation,  as  many  Zionists 
would  like  to  do.  Supposing,  for  example,  we  were 
obliged  to  clear  a  country  of  wild  beasts,  we  should 
not  set  about  the  business  in  the  fashion  of  Euro¬ 
peans  of  the  fifth  century.  We  should  not  take 
spear  and  lance  and  go  out  singly  in  pursuit  of 
bears;  we  should  organise  a  large  and  active  hunt¬ 
ing  party,  drive  the  animals  together,  and  throw  a 
melinite  bomb  into  their  midst. 

If  we  wish  to  conduct  building  operations,  we 
shall  not  plant  a  mass  of  stakes  and  piles  on  the 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


27 


shore  of  a  lake,  but  we  shall  build  as  men  build 
now.  Indeed,  we  shall  build  in  a  bolder  and  more 
stately  style  than  was  ever  adopted  before,  for  we 
uoav  possess  means  which  men  never  yet  possessed. 

The  emigrants  standing  lowest  in  the  economic 
scale  will  be  slowly  followed  by  those  of  a  higher 
grade.  Those  who  at  this  moment  are  living  in 
despair  will  go  first.  They  will  be  led  by  the  medi¬ 
ocre  intellects  which  we  produce  so  superabundant¬ 
ly,  and  which  are  persecuted  everywhere. 

This  pamphlet  will  open  a  general  discussion  on 
the  Jewish  Question,  avoiding,  if  possible,  the  crea¬ 
tion  of  an  opposition  party.  Such  a  result  would 
ruin  the  cause  from  the  outset,  and  dissentients 
must  remember  that  allegiance  or  opposition  are 
entirely  voluntary.  Who  will  not  come  with  us, 
may  remain. 

Let  all  who  are  willing  to  join  us,  fall  in  behind 
our  banner  and  fight  for  our  cause  with  voice  and 
pen  and  deed. 

Those  Jews  who  fall  in  with  our  idea  of  a  State 
will  attach  themselves  to  the  Society,  which  will 

•J  7 

thereby  be  authorised  to  confer  and  treat  with 
Governments  in  the  name  of  our  people.  The  So¬ 
ciety  will  thus  be  acknowledged  in  its  relations 

1/  o 

with  Governments  as  a  State-creating  power.  This 
acknowledgment  will  practically  create  the  State. 

Should  the  Powers  declare  themselves  willing  to 
admit  our  sovereignty  over  a  neutral  piece  of  land, 
then  the  Society  will  enter  into  negotiations  for  the 
possession  of  this  land.  Here  two  territories  come 
under  consideration,  Palestine  and  Argentina.  Id 


28 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


both  countries  important  experiments  in  colonisa¬ 
tion  have  been  made,  though  on  the  mistaken  prin¬ 
ciple  of  a  gradual  infiltration  of  Jews.  An  infil¬ 
tration  is  bound  to  end  in  disaster.  It  continues 
till  the  inevitable  moment  when  the  native  popula¬ 
tion  feels  itself  threatened,  and  forces  the  Govern¬ 
ment  to  stop  the  further  influx  of  Jews.  Immigra¬ 
tion  is  consequently  futile  unless  based  on  an  as¬ 
sured  supremacy. 

The  Society  of  Jews  will  treat  with  the  present 
masters  of  the  land,  putting  itself  under  the  pro¬ 
tectorate  of  the  European  Powers,  if  they  prove 
friendly  to  the  plan.  We  could  offer  the  present 
possessors  of  the  land  enormous  advantages;  take 
upon  ourselves  part  of  the  public  debt,  build  new 
roads  for  traffic,  which  our  presence  in  the  country 
would  render  necessary,  &c.  The  creation  of  our 
State  would  be  beneficial  to  adjacent  countries,  be* 
cause  the  cultivation  of  a  strip  of  land  increases  the 
value  of  its  surrounding  districts  in  innumerable 
ways. 

PALESTINE  OR  ARGENTINA? 

Shall  we  choose  Palestine  or  Argentina?*  We 
shall  take  what  is  given  us,  and  what  is  selected  by 
Jewish  public  opinion.  The  Society  will  settle  both 
these  points. 

Argentina  is  one  of  the  most  fertile  countries  in 
the  world,  extends  over  a  vast  area,  has  a  sparse 
population  and  a  mild  climate.  The  Argentine 
Republic  would  derive  considerable  profit  from  the 


*  See  editor’s  preface  for  the  determining-  of  this  issue. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


29 


cession  of  a  portion  of  its  territory  to  as.  The 
present  infiltration  of  Jews  has  certainly  produced 
some  friction,  and  it  would  be  necessary  to  en¬ 
lighten  the  Republic  on  the  intrinsic  difference  of 
our  new  movement. 

Palestine  is  our  ever-memorable  historic  home. 
The  very  name  of  Palestine  wTould  attract  our  peo¬ 
ple  with  a  force  of  marvellous  potency.  Supposing 
His  Majesty  the  Sultan  were  to  give  us  Palestine, 
we  could  in  return  pledge  ourselves  to  regulate  the 
whole  finances  of  Turkey.  We  should  there  form 
a  portion  of  the  rampart  of  Europe  against  Asia, 
an  outpost  of  civilisation  as  opposed  to  barbarism. 
The  sanctuaries  of  Christendom  would  be  safe¬ 
guarded  by  assigning  to  them' an  extra-territorial 
status,  such  as  is  well  known  to  the  law  of  nations. 
We  should  form  a  guard  of  honour  about  these 
sanctuaries,  answering  for  the  fulfilment  of  this 
duty  with  our  existence.  This  guard  of  honour 
would  be  the  great  symbol  of  the  solution  of  the 
Jewish  Question  after  eighteen  centuries  of  Jewish 
suffering. 


DEMAND,  MEDIUM,  TRADE. 

I  said  in  the  last  chapter  but  one,  “the  Jewish 
Company  will  organise  trade  and  commerce  in  the 
new  country.”  I  shall  here  insert  a  few  remarks  on 
that  point. 

A  scheme  such  as  mine  is  gravely  imperilled  by 
the  antagonistic  attitude  of  “experts.”  Now  ex¬ 
perts  are  often  nothing  more  than  men  sunk  into 
the  groove  of  daily  routine,  whence  they  have  an 


30 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


extraordinarily  limited  view.  At  tlie  same  time, 
their  adverse  opinion  carries  great  weight,  and  can 
do  considerable  harm  to  a  new  project,  at  any  rate 
till  this  new  thing  is  sufficiently  strong  to  throw 
“experts”  and  their  stupid  notions  to  the  winds. 

In  the  earliest  period  of  European  railway  con¬ 
struction  some  “experts”  were  of  opinion  that  it 
was  foolish  to  build  certain  lines,  “because  there 
were  not  even  sufficient  passengers  to  fill  the  mail- 
coaches.”  They  did  not  realise  the  truth  which 
now  seems  obvious  to  us — that  travellers  do  not 
produce  railways,  but,  conversely,  railways  produce 
travellers,  the  latent  demand  being,  of  course,  taken 
for  granted. 

The  impossibility  of  comprehending  how  trade 
and  commerce  are  to  be  created  in  a  new  country 
which  has  yet  to  be  acquired  and  cultivated  may 

lu¬ 
be  classed  with  those  doubts  of  “experts”  concern- 

'  .  j  . 

ing  the  need  for  railways.  An  “expert”  would  ex¬ 
press  himself  somewhat  in  this  fashion: 

“Granted  that  the  present  situation  of  the  Jews 
is  in  many  places  unendurable,  and  aggravated  day 
by  day;  granted  that  there  exists  a  desire  to  emi¬ 
grate;  granted  even  that  the  Jews  do  emigrate  to 
the  new  country;  how  will  they  earn  their  living 
there,  and  what  will  they  earn?  What  are  they  to 
live  on  when  there?  Commerce  cannot  be  arti¬ 
ficially  organised  in  a  day.” 

To  this  I  should  reply:  We  have  not  the  slightest 
intention  of  organising  trade  artificially,  and  we 
should  certainly  not  attempt  to  do  it  in  a  day. 
But,  though  the  organisation  of  it  may  be  impossi 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


31 


ble,  the  promotion  of  it  is  not.  And  how  is  com¬ 
merce  to  be  encouraged?  Through  the  medium  of 
a  demand.  The  demand  recognised,  the  medium 
created,  commerce  will  establish  itself. 

If  there  is  a  real  and  earnest  demand  among  Jews 
for  an  improvement  of  their  status;  if  the  medium 
to  be  created — the  Jewish  Company — is  sufficiently 
powerful,  then  commerce  will  extend  itself  copious¬ 
ly  in  the  new  country.  This  is,  of  course,  an  as- 
sumption,  in  the  same  way  as  the  development  of 
railway  traffic  was  an  assumption  in  the  thirties. 
Railroads  were  built  all  the  same,  for  men's  ideas 
fortunately  carried  them  beyond  the  doubts  of  “ex¬ 
perts”  and  their  mail-coaches. 

OUTLINES. 

The  Jewish  Company  is  partly  modelled  on  the 
lines  of  a  great  trading  association.  It  might  be 
called  a  Jewish  Chartered  Company,  though  it  can¬ 
not  exercise  sovereign  power,  and  has  duties  other 
than  the  establishment  of  colonial  commerce. 

The  Jewish  Company  will  be  founded  as  a  joint- 
stock  company  subject  to  English  jurisdiction, 
framed  according  to  English  laws,  and  under  the 
protection  of  England.  Its  principal  centre  will  be 
London.  I  cannot  tell  yet  how  large  the  Company’s 
capital  should  be;  I  shall  leave  that  calculation  to 
our  numerous  financiers.  But  to  avoid  ambiguity,  I 
shall  put  it  at  a  thousand  million  marks  (about 
£50,000,000);  it  may  be  either  more  or  less  than  that 
sum.  The  form  of  subscription,  which  will  be  fur- 


32 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


tlier  elucidated,  will  determine  wliat  fraction  of  the 
whole  amount  must  be  paid  in  at  once. 

The  Jewish  Company  is  an  organisation  with  a 
transitional  character.  It  is  strictly  a  business 
undertaking,  and  must  be  carefully  distinguished 
from  the  Society  of  Jews. 

The  Jewish  Company  will  first  of  all  see  to  the 
realisation  of  all  vested  interests  left  by  departing 
Jews.  The  method  adopted  will  prevent  the  occur¬ 
rence  of  crises,  secure  every  man’s  property,  and 
facilitate  that  inner  migration  of  Christian  citizens 
which  has  already  been  indicated. 

NON-TRANSFER  ABLE  GOODS. 

The  non-transferable  goods  which  come  under 
consideration  are  house  property,  land,  and  local 
business  connections.  The  Jewish  Company  will  at 
first  take  upon  itself  no  more  than  the  necessary 
negotiations  for  effecting  the  sale  of  these  goods, 
These  Jewish  sales  will  not  immediately  produce 
any  serious  fall  in  prices.  The  Company’s  branch 
establishments  in  various  towns  will  become  the 
central  offices  for  the  sale  of  Jewish  estates,  and 
will  charge  only  so  much  commission  on  transac¬ 
tions  as  will  ensure  their  financial  stability. 

Now,  the  development  of  this  movement  may 
cause  a  considerable  fall  in  the  prices  of  landed 
property,  and  may  eventually  make  it  impossible  to 
find  a  market  for  it.  At  this  juncture  the  Company 
will  enter  upon  another  branch  of  its  functions.  It 
will  take  over  the  management  of  abandoned 
estates  till  such  time  as  it  can  dispose  of  them 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


33 


to  greatest  advantage.  It  will  rent  houses,  let 
out  land  on  lease,  and  instal  business  managers — 
these,  on  account  of  the  required  supervision,  being, 
if  possible,  tenants  also.  The  Company  will  en¬ 
deavour  everywhere  to  facilitate  the  acquisition  of 
land  by  its  tenants,  who  are  Christians.  It  will, 
indeed,  gradually  replace  its  own  officials  in  the 
European  branches  by  Christian  substitutes;  law¬ 
yers,  &c. ;  and  these  are  not  by  any  means  to  become 
servants  of  the  Jews;  they  are  intended  to  be  free 
controlling  bodies  to  the  Christian  population,  so 
that  everything  may  be  carried  through  in  equity, 
fairness  and  justice,  and  without  imperilling  the 
internal  welfare  of  the  people. 

At  the  same  time  the  Company  will  buy  estates, 
or,  rather,  exchange  them.  For  a  house  it  will  offer 
a  house  in  the  new  country,  and  for  land,  land  in  the 
new  country;  everything  being,  if  possible,  trans¬ 
ferred  to  new  soil  in  the  same  state  as  it  was  in  the 
old.  And  this  transfer  will  be  a  great  and  recog¬ 
nised  source  of  profit  to  the  Company.  “Over 
there”  the  houses  offered  in  exchange  will  be  newer, 
more  beautiful,  and  more  comfortably  fitted,  and 
the  landed  estates  of  greater  value  than  those  aban¬ 
doned;  but  they  will  cost  the  Company  compara¬ 
tively  little,  because  it  will  have  bought  the  ground 
at  a  very  cheap  rate. 

PURCHASE  OF  LAND. 

The  land  which  the  Society  of  Jews  will  have  se- 
cured  by  international  law  must,  of  course,  be  pri¬ 
vately  acquired. 


34 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


Provisions  made  bv  individuals  for  their  own 
settlement  do  not  come  within  the  province  of  this 
general  account.  But  the  Company  requires  large 
strips  of  territory  for  its  own  needs  and  ours,  and 
these  it  must  secure  by  private  purchase.  It  will 
negotiate  principally  for  the  acquisition  of  fiscal 
domains,  with  the  great  object  of  taking  possession 
of  this  land  “over  there”  without  paying  a  price  too 
high,  in  the  same  way  as  it  sells  here  without  ac¬ 
cepting  one  too  low.  A  forcing  of  prices  will  be 
impossible,  because  the  value  of  the  land  will  be 
created  by  the  Company  through  its  organisation  of 
settlements,  in  conjunction  with  the  supervising 
Society  of  Jews.  The  latter  will  see  to  it  that  the 
enterprise  does  not  become  a  Panama,  but  a  Suez. 

The  Company  will  sell  building  sites  at  cheap 
rates  to  its  officials,  and  will  allow  them  to  mort¬ 
gage  these  for  the  building  of  their  habitations,  de¬ 
ducting  the  amount  due  from  their  salaries,  or  put¬ 
ting  it  down  to  their  account  as  increased  emolu¬ 
ment.  This  will,  in  addition  to  the  honours  they 

expect,  form  a  kind  of  recompense  for  their  ser¬ 
vices. 

All  the  immense  profits  of  this  speculation  in  land 
will  go  to  the  Company,  which  is  bound  to  receive 
this  indefinite  premium  in  return  for  having  borne 
the  risk  of  the  undertaking.  When  the  undertaking 
involves  any  risk,  the  profits  must  be  freely  ac¬ 
corded  to  those  who  have  borne  it.  But  under  no 
other  circumstances  will  profits  be  permitted.  In 
the  co-relation  of  risk  and  profit  is  comprehended 
financial  justice. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


35 


BUILDINGS. 

The  Company  will  thus  barter  houses  aud  estates. 
It  must  be  plain  to  any  one  who  has  observed  the 
rise  iu  the  value  of  land  through  its  cultivation,  that 
the  Company  will  gain  enormously  on  its  landed 
property.  This  can  best  be  seen  in  enclosed  pieces 
of  land  in  town  and  country.  Areas  not  built  over 
increase  in  value  through  surrounding  cultivation. 
The  men  who  carried  out  the  extension  of  Paris 
made  a  successful  speculation  in  land  which  was 
ingenious  in  its  simplicity;  instead  of  erecting  new 
buildings  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  last 
houses  of  the  town,  they  bought  up  adjacent  strips 
of  land  and  began  to  build  on  the  outskirts  of  these. 
This  inverse  order  of  construction  raised  the  value 
of  building  sites  with  extraordinary  rapidity. 
After  having  completed  the  outer  ring,  they  built 
in  the  middle  of  the  town  on  these  highly  valuable 
sites,  instead  of  continually  erecting  houses  at  the 
extremity. 

Will  the  Company  do  its  own  building,  or  com¬ 
mission  independent  architects?  It  can,  and  will, 
do  both.  It  has,  as  will  be  shown  shortly,  an  im¬ 
mense  reserve  of  working  power,  which  will  not  be 
sweated  by  the  Company,  but,  transported  into 
brighter  and  happier  conditions  of  life,  will  work 
at  a  cheap  rate.  Our  geologists  will  have  looked 
to  the  provision  of  building  materials  when  they  se¬ 
lected  the  sites  of  the  towns. 

What  is  to  be  the  principle  of  construction? 


I 


36  A  JEWISH  STATE. 

WORKMEN’S  DWELLINGS. 

The  workmen’s  dwellings  (which  include  the 
dwellings  of  all  operatives)  will  be  erected  at  the 
Company’s  own  risk  and  expense.  They  will  re¬ 
semble  neither  those  melancholy  workmen’s  bar¬ 
racks  of  European  towns,  nor  those  miserable  rows 
of  cabins  which  surround  factories;  they  will  cer¬ 
tainly  present  a  uniform  appearance,  because  the 
Company  must  build  cheaply  where  it  provides  the 
building  materials  to  a  great  extent;  but  the  de¬ 
tached  houses  in  little  gardens  will  be  united  into 
attractive  groups  in  each  locality.  The  natural 
conformation  of  the  land  will  rouse  the  ingenuity  of 
our  young  architects,  whose  ideas  have  not  yet  been 
cramped  by  routine;  and  even  if  the  people  do  not 
grasp  the  whole  import  of  the  plan,  they  will  at  any 
rate  feel  at  ease  in  their  loose  clusters.  The  Tem¬ 
ple  will  be  visible  from  long  distances,  for  our  faith 
it  was  that  united  us  in  old  davs.  There  will  be 

c/ 

light,  attractive,  healthy  schools  for  children,  con¬ 
ducted  on  the  most  approved  modern  systems. 
There  will  be  continuation-schools  for  workmen, 
which  will  educate  them  up  to  greater  technical 
knowledge  and  enable  them  to  become  intimate 
with  the  working  of  machinery.  There  will  be 
places  of  amusement,  for  the  proper  conduct  of 
which  the  Society  of  Jews  will  be  responsible. 

We  are,  however,  speaking  merely  of  the  build¬ 
ings  at  present,  not  of  what  may  take  place  inside 
them. 

I  said  that  the  Company  would  build  workmen’s 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


37 


dwellings  cheaply.  And  cheaply,  not  only  because 
of  the  proximity  of  abundant  building  materials, 
not  only  because  of  the  Company’s  proprietorship 
of  the  sites,  but  also  because  of  the  non-payment  of 
workmen. 

American  farmers  work  on  the  system  of  mutual 
assistance  in  the  construction  of  houses.  This 
childishly  amicable  system,  which  is  as  clumsy  as 
the  block  houses  erected,  allows  of  considerable 
amplifications. 

UNSKILLED  LABOURERS. 

Our  unskilled  labourers,  who  will  come  at  first 
from  the  great  reservoirs  of  Russia  and  Roumania, 
must,  of  course,  render  each  other  assistance  in  the 
construction  of  houses.  They  will  be  obliged  to 
build  with  wood  in  the  beginning,  because  iron  will 
not  be  immediately  available.  Later  on,  the  orig¬ 
inal,  inadequate,  makeshift  buildings  will  be  re¬ 
placed  by  superior  dwellings. 

Our  unskilled  labourers  will  first  mutually  erect 
these  shelters;  and  then  they  will  earn  their  houses 
as  permanent  possessions  by  means  of  their  work — 
not  immediately,  but  after  three  years  of  good  con 
duct.  In  this  way  we  shall  secure  energetic  and 
able  men,  and  these  men  will  be  practically  trained 
for  life  by  three  years  of  labour  under  good  disci¬ 
pline. 

I  said  before  that  the  Company  would  not  have 
to  pay  these  unskilled  labourers.  What  will  they 
live  on? 

On  the  whole,  I  am  opposed  to  the  Truck  system. 


38 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


but  it  will  have  to  be  applied  in  the  case  of  these 
first  settlers.  The  Company  provides  for  them  in  so 
many  ways  that  it  may  take  entire  charge  of  their 
maintenance.  In  any  case  the  Truck  system  will  be 
enforced  only  during  the  first  few  years,  and  it  will 
benefit  the  workmen  by  preventing  their  exploita¬ 
tion  by  small  traders,  landlords,  Ac.  The  company 
will  thus  friake  it  impossible  from  the  outset  for 
those  of  our  people  who  are  perforce  hawkers  and 
pedlars  here  to  re-establish  themselves  in  the  same 
trades  over  there.  And  the  Company  will  also  keep 
back  drunkards  and  dissolute  men.  Then  there 
will  be  no  payment  of  wages  at  all  during  the  first 
period  of  settlement? 

Wages  will  be  paid  for  overtime. 

THE  SEVEN-HOURS  DAY. 

The  seven-hours  day  is  the  regular  working  day. 

This  does  not  imply  that  wood-cutting,  digging, 
stone-breaking,  and  a  hundred  other  daily  tasks 
should  only  be  performed  during  seven  hours.  In¬ 
deed  not.  There  will  be  fourteen  hours  of  labour, 
work  being  done  in  shifts  of  three  and  a  half  hours. 
The  organisation  of  all  this  will  be  military  in 
character;  there  will  be  commands,  promotions  and 
pensions,  the  means  by  which  these  pensions  are 
raised  being  explained  further  on. 

A  sound  man  can  do  an  excellent  piece  of  work  in 
three  hours  and  a  half.  After  an  interval  of  the 
same  length  of  time — which  lie  will  devote  to  rest, 
to  his  family,  and  to  his  education  under  guidance 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


39 


— he  will  be  quite  fresli  for  work  again.  Such 
labour  can  do  wonders. 

The  seven-hours  day  thus  implies  fourteen  hours 
of  joint  labour — more  than  that  cannot  be  put  into 
a  dav. 

I  am  convinced  that  it  is  quite  possible  to  intro¬ 
duce  this  seven-hours  day  with  success.  The  at¬ 
tempts  to  do  so  in  Belgium  and  England  are  well 
known.  Some  advanced  political  economists  who 
have  studied  the  subject  declare  that  a  five-hours 
day  would  actually  suffice.  The  Society  of  Jews 
and  the  Jewish  Company  will,  in  any  case,  make 
new  and  extensive  experiments  which  will  benefit 
the  other  nations  of  the  world;  and  if  the  seven- 
hours  day  proves  itself  practicable,  it  will  be  intro¬ 
duced  in  our  future  State  as  the  legal  and  regular 
working  day. 

Meantime  the  Company  will  always  allow  its 
employes  the  seven-hours  day;  and  it  will  always  be 
in  a  position  to  do  so. 

The  seven-hours  dav  will  be  the  call  of  assembly 
to  our  people  in  every  part  of  the  world.  All  must 
come  voluntarily,  for  ours  must  indeed  be  the  Prom¬ 
ised  Land . 

Whoever  works  longer  than  seven  hours  receives 
his  additional  pay  for  overtime  in  cash.  Seeing 
that  all  his  needs  are  supplied,  and  that  those  mem¬ 
bers  of  his  family  who  are  unable  to  work  are  pro¬ 
vided  for  by  transplanted  and  centralised  philan¬ 
thropic  institutions,  he  can  put  a  little  money  by. 
Thrift,  which  is  already  a  characteristic  of  our  peo¬ 
ple,  should  be  greatly  encouraged,  because  it  will, 


40 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


in  the  first  place,  facilitate  the  rise  of  individuals 
to  higher  grades;  and  secondly,  the  money  saved 
will  provide  an  immense  reserve  fund  for  future 
loans.  Overtime  will  only  be  permitted  on  a  doc¬ 
tor’s  certificate,  and  must  not  exceed  three  hours. 
For  our  men  will  crowd  to  work  in  the  new  country, 
and  the  world  will  see  then  what  stuff  for  work  is 
in  us. 

I  shall  not  describe  the  mode  of  carrying  out  the 
Truck  system,  nor,  in  fact,  the  innumerable  details 
of  any  process,  for  fear  of  confusing  my  readers. 
Women  will  not  be  allowed  to  perform  any  arduous 
labour,  nor  to  work  overtime. 

Pregnant  women  will  be  relieved  of  all  work,  and 
will  be  supplied  with  nourishing  food  by  the  Truck. 
We  want  our  future  generations  to  be  strong  men 
and  women. 

We  shall  educate  children  as  we  wish  from  the 
commencement;  but  this  I  shall  not  elaborate 
either. 

My  remarks  on  workmen’s  dwellings,  and  on  un¬ 
skilled  labourers  and  their  mode  of  life,  are  no  more’ 
Utopian  than  the  rest  of  my  scheme.  Everything  I 
have  spoken  of  has  already  been  put  into  practice 
on  a  small  and  insignificant  scale.  The  “Assistance 
par  le  Travail,”  or  “labour-test,”  which  I  studied  in 
Paris,  was  of  great  service  to  me  in  the  solution  of 
the  Jewish  Question. 


THE  LABOUR-TEST. 

The  labour-test  which  is  now  applied  in  Paris,  in 
many  other  French  towns,  in  England,  in  Switzer- 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


41 


land,  and  in  America,  is  a  very  small  thing,  but 
capable  of  the  greatest  expansion. 

What  is  the  principle  of  the  labour-test? 

The  principle  is:  the  furnishing  of  every  necessi¬ 
tous  man  with  easy,  unskilled  work,  such  as  chop¬ 
ping  wood,  or  cutting  faggots  used  for  lighting 
stoves  in  Paris  households.  This  is  a  kind  cf 
prison-work  before  the  crime,  done  without  loss  of 
character.  It  is  meant  to  prevent  men  from  taking 
to  crime  out  of  want,  by  providing  them  with  work 
and  testing  their  willingness  to  do  it.  Starvation 
must  never  be  allowed  to  drive  men  to  suicide;  for 
such  suicides  are  the  deepest  disgrace  to  a  civilisa¬ 
tion  which  allows  rich  men  to  throw  tit-bits  to  their 
dogs. 

The  labour-test  thus  provides  every  one  with 
work.  But  the  system  has  a  great  defect:  there  is 
not  a  sufficiently  large  demand  for  the  productions 
of  the  unskilled  workers  employed,  hence  there  is 
a  loss  to  those  who  employ  them;  though  it  is  true 
that  the  organisation  is  philanthropic,  and  there¬ 
fore  prepared  for  loss.  But  here  the  benefaction 
lies  only  in  the  difference  between  the  price  paid 
for  the  work  and  its  actual  value.  Instead  of  giv¬ 
ing  the  beggar  two  sous,  the  institution  supplies 
him  with  work  on  which  it  loses  two  sous.  But  at 
the  same  time  it  converts  the  good-for-nothing  beg¬ 
gar  into  an  honest  bread-winner,  who  has  earned 
perhaps  1  franc  50  centimes.  150  centimes  for  10! 
That  is  to  say,  the  receiver  of  a  benefaction  in 
which  there  is  nothing  humiliating  has  increased  it 


42 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


fifteenfold!  That  is  to  say,  fifteen  thousand  mill¬ 
ions  for  one  thousand  millions! 

The  institution  certainly  loses  10  centimes.  But 
the  Jewish  Company  will  not  lose  one  thousand 
millions;  it  will  draw  enormous  profits  from  this 
expenditure. 

There  is  a  moral  side  also.  The  small  labour- 
tests  which  exist  now  preserve  rectitude  through 
industry  till  such  time  as  the  man  who  is  out  of 
work  finds  a  post  suitable  to  his  capacities,  either  in 
his  old  calling  or  in  a  new  one.  He  is  allowed  an 
hour  or  two  daily  for  the  purpose  of  looking  for  a 
place,  in  which  task  the  institutions  assist  him. 

The  defect  of  these  small  organisations,  so  far, 
lias  been  that  they  have  been  prohibited  from  enter¬ 
ing  into  competition  with  timber  merchants,  &c*. 
Timber  merchants  are  electors;  they  would  protest, 
and  would  be  justified  in  protesting.  Competition 
with  State  prison-labour  has  also  been  forbidden, 
for  the  State  must  have  the  monopoly  of  tending 
and  exploiting  its  criminals. 

In  fact,  there  is  very  little  room  in  an  old-estab- 
lislied  society  for  the  successful  application  of 
labour-tests. 

But  there  is  room  in  a  new  society! 

For,  above  all,  we  require  enormous  numbers  of 
unskilled  labourers  to  do  the  first  rough  work  of 
settlement,  to  lay  down  roads,  plant  trees,  level  the 
ground,  lay  down  railroads  and  telegraph  lines,  &e. 
All  this  being,  of  course,  carried  out  in  accordance 
with  a  great  and  previously  settled  plan. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


43 


COMMERCE. 

The  labour  carried  to  the  new  country  will  nat¬ 
urally  create  trade.  The  first  markets  will  supply 
only  the  absolute  necessaries  of  life:  cattle,  grain, 
working  clothes,  tools,  arms,  &c.  These  we  shall 
be  obliged  at  first  to  procure  from  neighbouring 
States,  or  from  Europe;  but  we  shall  make  our¬ 
selves  independent  as  soon  as  possible.  The  Jew¬ 
ish  promoters  will  soon  realise  what  prospects  of 
business  the  new  country  offers. 

The  army  of  the  Company’s  officials  will  grad¬ 
ually  introduce  more  refined  requirements  of  life. 
(Officials  include  officers  of  our  defensive  forces,  who 
will  always  form  about  the  tenth  part  of  our  male 
colonists.  They  will  be  sufficiently  numerous  to 
quell  mutinies,  for  the  majority  of  our  colonists 
will  be  peaceably  inclined.) 

The  refined  requirements  of  life  introduced  by  our 
more  prosperous  officials  will  create  a  correspond¬ 
ingly  improved  market,  which  will  continue  to  bet¬ 
ter  itself.  The  married  man  will  send  for  wife  and 
children,  and  the  bachelor  for  parents  and  relatives, 
as  soon  as  a  new  home  is  established  “over  there.” 
The  Jews  who  emigrate  to  the  United  States  always 
proceed  in  this  fashion.  As  soon  as  one  of  them  has 
daily  bread  and  a  roof  over  his  head,  he  sends  for 
his  people;  for  family  ties  are  strong  among  us. 
The  Society  of  Jews  and  the  Jewish  Company  will 
unite  in  caring  for  and  strengthening  the  family, 
not  only  morally,  but  materially  also.  The  officials 
will  receive  an  increase  of  salary  on  marriage,  and 


44 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


on  the  birth  of  children,  for  we  need  all  who  are 
there,  and  all  who  will  follow. 

OTHER  CLASSES  OF  DWELLINGS. 

I  described  before  only  workmen’s  dwellings  built, 
by  themselves,  and  omitted  all  mention  of  other 
classes  of  dwellings;  these  I  shall  now  touch  upon. 
The  Company’s  architects  will  build  for  the  poorer 
class  of  citizens  also,  being  paid  in  kind  or  cash; 
about  a  hundred  different  types  of  houses  will  be 
executed,  and,  of  course,  repeated.  These  beauti¬ 
ful  types  will  form  part  of  our  propaganda.  The 
soundness  of  their  construction  will  be  guaranteed 
by  the  Company,  which  will,  indeed,  gain  nothing 
by  selling  them  to  settlers  at  a  fixed  sum.  And 
where  will  these  houses  be  situated?  That  will 
shortly  be  demonstrated  in  the  description  of  local 
groups. 

Seeing  that  the  Company  receives,  as  it  were, 
ground-rent  and  not  house-rent,  it  will  desire  as 
many  architects  as  possible  to  build  by  private  con¬ 
tract.  This  system  will  introduce  luxury,  which 
serves  many  purposes.  Luxury  encourages  arts 
and  industries,  paving  the  way  to  a  future  subdi¬ 
vision  of  large  properties. 

Rich  Jews  who  are  now  obliged  carefully  to 
secrete  their  valuables,  and  to  hold  their  dreary 
banquets  behind  lowered  curtains,  will  be  able  to 
enjoy  their  possessions  in  peace  “over  there.”  If 
they  co-operate  in  carrying  out  this  emigration 
scheme,  their  capital  will  be  rehabilitated  there,  and 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


45 


will  have  served  to  promote  an  unexampled  under¬ 
taking.  If  rich  Jews  begin  to  rebuild  their  man¬ 
sions  in  the  new  settlement,  where  they  are  no 
longer  surveyed  with  envious  eyes,  it  will  soon  be¬ 
come  fashionable  to  live  over  there  in  beautiful 
modern  houses. 

SOME  FORMS  OF  REALISING  NON-TRANS 

FERABLE  PROPERTY. 

The  Jewish  Company  is  the  receiver  and  admin¬ 
istrator  of  the  non-transferable  goods  of  the  Jews. 

Its  methods  of  procedure  can  be  easily  imagined 
in  the  case  of  houses  and  estates,  but  what  methods 
will  it  adopt  in  the  transfer  of  businesses? 

Here  numberless  processes  may  be  found  prac¬ 
ticable,  which  cannot  all  be  enlarged  on  in  this  out¬ 
line.  But  none  of  them  will  present  any  great  dif¬ 
ficulties,  for  in  each  case  the  emigrating  business 
proprietor  will  settle  with  the  Company’s  officers  in 
his  district  on  the  most  advantageous  form  of 
liquidation. 

This  will  most  easily  be  arranged  in  the  case  of 
small  employers,  in  whose  trades  the  personal  ac¬ 
tivity  of  the  proprietor  is  of  chief  importance,  while 
goods  and  organisation  are  a  secondary  considera¬ 
tion.  The  Company  will  provide  a  certain  field  of 
operation  for  the  emigrant’s  personal  activity,  and 
■will  substitute  a  piece  of  ground,  with  loan  of  ma¬ 
chinery,  for  his  goods.  Jews  are  known  to  adapt 
themselves  with  remarkable  ease  to  any  form  of 
earning  a  livelihood,  and  they  will  quickly  learn  to 
carry  on  a  new  industry.  In  this  way  a  number  of 


46 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


small  traders  will  become  small  landholders.  The 
Company  will,  in  fact,  be  prepared  to  sustain  what 
appears  to  be  a  loss  in  taking  over  the  non-trans- 
ferable  property  of  the  poorest  emigrants;  for  it 
will  thereby  induce  the  free  cultivation  of  tracts  of 
land,  which  raises  the  value  of  adjacent  tracts. 

In  a  larger  business,  where  goods  and  organisa¬ 
tion  equal,  or  even  exceed,  in  importance,  the  per¬ 
sonal  activity  of  the  manager,  whose  larger  connec¬ 
tion  is  also  non-transferable,  various  forms  of 
liquidation  are  possible.  Here  comes  an  opportu¬ 
nity  for  that  inner  migration  of  Christian  citizens 
into  positions  evacuated  by  Jews.  The  departing 
Jew  will  not  lose  his  personal  business  credit,  but 
will  carry  it  with  him.  The  Jewish  Company  will 
open  a  current  bank  account  for  him.  And  he  can 
sell  the  goodwill  of  his  original  business,  or  hand  it 
over  to  the  control  of  managers  under  supervision 
of  the  Company’s  officials.  The  managers  may  rent 
the  business  or  buy  it,  paying  for  it  by  instalments. 
But  the  Company  acts  temporarily  as  trustee  for 
the  emigrants,  in  superintending,  through  its  offi¬ 
cers  and  lawyers,  the  administration  of  their  af¬ 
fairs,  and  seeing  to  the  correct  entry  of  all  ac¬ 
counts. 

If  a  Jew  cannot  sell  his  business,  will  not  entrust 
it  to  a  proxy,  and  does  not  wish  to  give  up  its  per¬ 
sonal  management,  he  may  stay  where  he  is.  The 
Jews  who  stay  will  be  none  the  worse  off,  for  they 
will  be  relieved  of  the  competition  of  those  who 
leave,  and  will  no  longer  hear  the  Anti-Semitic  cry, 
“No  dealing  with  Jews!” 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION.  47 

9 

If  the  emigrating  business  proprietor  wishes  to 
carry  on  his  old  business  in  the  new  country,  he  can 
make  his  arrangements  for  it  from  the  very  com¬ 
mencement.  An  example  will  best  illustrate  my 
meaning.  The  firm  X.  carries  on  a  large  business 
in  fancy  goods.  The  head  of  the  firm  wishes  to  emi¬ 
grate.  He  begins  by  setting  up  a  branch  establish¬ 
ment  in  his  future  place  of  residence,  and  sending 
out  his  surplus  stock.  The  first  poor  settlers  will 
be  his  first  customers;  these  will  be  followed  by 
emigrants  of  a  higher  class,  who  require  superior 
goods.  X.  then  sends  out  newer  goods,  and  even¬ 
tually  despatches  his  newest.  The  branch  estab¬ 
lishment  begins  to  pay  while  the  principal  one  is 
still  in  existence,  so  that  X.  ends  by  having  two 
paying  business  houses.  He  sells  his  original  busi¬ 
ness  to  a  Christian,  and  goes  off  to  manage  the  new 
one. 

Another  and  greater  example:  Y.  &  Son  are 
large  coal-traders,  with  mines  and  factories  of  their 
own.  How  is  so  huge  and  complex  a  property  to 
be  realised?  The  mines  and  everything  connected 
with  them  might,  in  the  first  place,  be  bought  up 
by  the  State  in  which  they  are  situated.  In  the 
second  place,  the  Jewish  Company  might  take  them 
over,  paying  for  them  partly  in  land,  partly  in  cash. 
A  third  method  might  be  the  conversion  of  Y.  & 
Son  into  a  limited  company.  A  fourth,  the  con¬ 
tinued  working  of  the  business  under  the  original 
proprietors,  who  would  return  at  intervals  to  in¬ 
spect  their  property,  as  foreigners,  and  as  such, 
under  the  protection  of  law  in  every  civilised  State. 


48 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


All  these  suggestions  are  carried  out  daily.  A  fifth 
method,  and  one  which  might  be  particularly  profit¬ 
able,  I  shall  merely  indicate,  because  there  are  at 
present  few  and  feeble  extant  examples  of  its  work¬ 
ing,  however  ready  the  modern  consciousness  may 
be  to  adopt  them.  Y.  SC  Son  might  sell  their  under¬ 
taking  to  the  collective  body  of  their  employes,  who 
would  form  a  co-operative  society,  and  might  per¬ 
haps  pay  the  requisite  sum  by  means  of  a  Govern¬ 
ment  loan,  on  which  there  wTould  not  be  heavy  in¬ 
terest  to  pay. 

The  employes  would  then  gradually  pay  off  the 
loan,  which  either  the  Government  or  the  Jewish 
Company,  or  even  Y.  &  Son,  would  have  advanced 
to  them. 

The  Jewish  Company  will  be  prepared  to  conduct 
the  transfer  of  the  smallest  affairs  equally  with  the 
largest.  While  Jewish  emigration  slowly  proceeds, 
the  Company  remains  its  great  controlling  body, 
which  organises  the  departure,  takes  charge  of  de¬ 
serted  possessions,  guarantees  the  proper  conduct 
of  the  movement  with  its  own  visible  and  palpable 
property,  and  provides  permanent  security  for  those 
who  have  already  settled. 

SECURITIES  OF  THE  COMPANY. 

What  securities  will  the  Company  offer  that  the 
abandonment  of  countries  will  not  cause  their  im¬ 
poverishment  and  produce  economic  crises? 

I  have  already  mentioned  that  honest  Anti-Se¬ 
mites  will  combine  with  our  officials  in  controlling 
the  transfer  of  our  estates. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


49 


But  the  State  revenues  might  suffer  by  the  loss 
of  a  body  of  taxpayers,  who,  though  little  appre¬ 
ciated  as  citizens,  are  highly  valued  in  finance.  The 
State  should  therefore  receive  compensation  for 
this  loss.  This  we  offer  indirectly  by  leaving  in  the 
country  business  which  we  have  built  up  by  means 
of  Jewish  shrewdness  and  Jewish  industry,  by  let¬ 
ting  our  Christian  fellow  citizens  move  into  our 
evacuated  positions,  and  by  thus  facilitating  the 
rise  of  numbers  of  people  to  greater  prosperity  in 
a  manner  so  peaceable  as  has  never  been  known 
before.  The  French  Revolution  had  a  similar  re¬ 
sult,  on  a  small  scale,  brought  about  by  bloodshed 
on  the  guillotine,  in  every  province  of  France,  and 
on  the  battlefields  of  Europe.  Moreover,  inherited 
and  acquired  rights  were  destroyed,  and  cunning 
buyers  only  enriched  themselves  by  the  purchase  of 
State  properties. 

The  Jewish  Company  will  offer  to  the  States  that 
fall  under  its  sphere  of  work,  direct  as  well  as  in¬ 
direct  advantages.  It  will  give  Governments  the 
first  offer  of  abandoned  Jewish  property,  and  allow 
buvers  most  favourable  conditions.  Governments. 

•y  7 

again,  will  be  able  to  make  use  of  this  extensive 
appropriation  of  land  for  the  purpose  of  social  ex¬ 
periments  and  improvements. 

The  Jewish  Company  will  give  every  assistance 
to  Governments  and  Parliaments  in  their  efforts  to 
control  and  guide  the  inner  migration  of  Christian 
citizens. 

The  Jewish  Company  will  also  pay  heavy  duties. 
Its  central  office  will  be  in  London,  so  as  to  be 


50 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


under  the  protection  of  a  Power  which  is  not  at 
present  Anti-Semitic.  But  the  Company  requires 
to  be  officially  and  publicly  supported,  and  must 
therefore  be  in  a  position  to  pay  taxes.  To  this 
end,  it  will  establish  taxable  branch  offices  every- 
where.  Further,  it  will  pay  double  duties  on  the 
twofold  transfer  of  goods  which  it  effects.  Even  in 
transactions  where  the  Company  is  really  nothing 
more  than  a  business  agency,  it  will  temporarily 
appear  as  a  purchaser,  and  will  be  set  down  as  the 
momentary  possessor  in  the  register  of  landed 
property. 

These  are,  of  course,  purely  calculable  matters. 

Every  place  wrill  raise  and  discuss  the  question, 
how  far  the  Company  can  go  without  running  any 
risks  of  failure.  And  the  Company  itself  will  con¬ 
fer  freely  with  Finance  Ministers  on  the  various 
points  at  issue.  Ministers  will  recognise  the  con¬ 
ciliatory  spirit  of  our  enterprise,  and  will  conse¬ 
quently  offer  every  facility  in  their  power  for  the 
successful  achievement  of  the  great  undertaking. 

Further  and  direct  profit  will  accrue  to  Govern¬ 
ments  from  the  transport  of  passengers  and  goods, 
and  wiiere  railways  are  State  property  the  returns 
will  be  immediately  recognisable.  Where  they  are 
held  by  companies,  the  Jewish  Company  will  make 
favourable  terms  for  transport,  in  the  same  way  as 
does  every  transmitter  of  goods  on  a  large  scale. 
Freight  and  carriage  must  be  made  as  cheap  as 
possible  for  our  people,  because  every  traveller  will 
pay  his  own  expenses.  The  middle  classes  will 
travel  with  Cooks’  tickets,  the  poorer  classes  in  emi- 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


51 


grant  trains.  The  Company  might  make  a  good 
deal  by  reductions  on  passengers  and  goods;  but 
here,  as  elsewhere,  it  must  adhere  to  its  principle 
of  not  trying  to  raise  its  receipts  to  a  greater  sum 
than  will  cover  its  working  expenses. 

In  many  places  Jews  have  control  of  the  trans¬ 
port;  and  the  transport  industries  will  be  the  first 
needed  by  the  Company,  and  the  first  to  be  bought 
up  by  it.  The  original  owners  of  these  industries 
will  either  enter  the  Company’s  service,  or  estab¬ 
lish  themselves  independently  “over  there.”  The 
new  arrivals  will  certainly  require  their  assistance, 
and  theirs  being  a  paying  profession,  which  they 
may  and  indeed  must  exercise  there  to  earn  a  living, 
numbers  of  these  enterprising  spirits  will  depart. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  describe  all  the  business  details 
of  this  monster  expedition.  They  must  be  judi¬ 
ciously  evolved  out  of  the  original  plan  by  many 
able  and  intelligent  men. 

SOME  OF  THE  COMPANY’S  FUNCTIONS. 

One  department  of  work  will  create  another. 
For  example:  the  Company  will  introduce  manu¬ 
factures  of  goods  into  the  settlements  which  will, 
of  course,  be  extremely  primitive  at  their  inception. 
Outer  garments,  under-linen,  and  shoes  will  first  of 
all  be  manufactured  for  our  own  poor  emigrants, 
who  will  be  provided  with  new  suits  of  clothing  at 
the  various  European  emigration  centres.  They 
will  not  receive  these  clothes  as  alms,  which  might 
hurt  their  pride,  but  in  exchange  for  old  garments; 
any  loss  the  Company  sustains  by  this  transaction 


52 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


being  booked  as  a  business  loss.  Those  who  are 
absolutely  without  means  will  pay  off  their  debt  to 
the  Company  by  working  overtime  at  a  fair  rate  of 
wages. 

Existing  emigration  societies  will  be  able  to  give 
valuable  assistance  here,  for  they  will  do  for  the 
Company’s  colonists  what  they  did  before  for  de¬ 
parting  Jews;  a  good  system  of  co-operation  being 
easily  organised  by  the  authorities. 

The  new  clothing  even  of  the  poor  settlers  will 
have  a  symbolic  meaning.  “You  are  now  entering 
on  a  new  life.”  The  Society  of  Jews  will  impress 
on  them  the  solemnity  and  gravity  of  their  under¬ 
taking  by  instituting  the  recital  of  prayers,  pop¬ 
ular  lectures,  instruction  on  the  object  of  the  expe¬ 
dition,  directions  on  the  hygienic  construction  of 
their  new  places  of  residence,  and  encouragement 
to  work,  before  the  departure  and  during  the  jour¬ 
ney.  On  their  arrival  the  emigrants  will  be  wel¬ 
comed  by  our  chief  officials  with  due  solemnity,  but 
without  foolish  exultation,  for  the  Promised  Land 
will  not  yet  have  been  conquered;  they  will  only 
feel  that,  poor  as  they  are,  they  are  on  land  of  their 
own  at  last. 

The  clothing  industries  of  the  Company  will,  of 
course,  not  produce  their  goods  without  distinct  # 
organisation.  The  Society  of  Jews  will  obtain  from 
the  local  groups  an  exact  estimate  of  the  number, 
requirements,  and  date  of  arrival  of  the  settlers, 
and  will  communicate  all  information  in  good  time 
to  the  Jewish  Company.  In  this  way  it  will  be  pos¬ 
sible  to  provide  for  them  with  every  precaution. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


53 


PROMOTION  OF  INDUSTRIES. 

The  duties  of  the  Jewish  Company  and  the  So¬ 
ciety  of  Jews  cannot  be  kept  strictly  apart  in  this 
outline.  These  two  great  bodies  will  indeed  work 
in  unison,  the  Company  depending  on  the  moral  di¬ 
rection  and  support  of  the  Society,  the  Society  again 
acting  only  with  the  material  assistance  of  the  Com¬ 
pany.  For  example,  in  the  management  of  the 
clothing  industry,  the  quantity  produced  will  at  first 
be  kept  down  so  as  to  preserve  an  equilibrium  be¬ 
tween  supply  and  demand;  and  wherever  the  Com¬ 
pany  undertakes  the  organisation  of  new  industries 
the  same  precautions  will  be  exercised. 

But  individual  enterprise  must  never  be  checked 
by  our  superior  force.  We  shall  only  work  collec¬ 
tively  when  the  immense  difficulties  of  the  task  de¬ 
mand  common  action;  we  shall,  wherever  possible, 
scrupulously  respect  the  rights  of  the  individual. 
Private  property,  which  is  the  economic  basis  of  in¬ 
dependence,  will  also  be  encouraged  to  develop 
freely.  Our  unskilled  labourers  even  will  work 
their  way  up  to  private  proprietorship. 

The  spirit  of  enterprise  must,  indeed,  be  encour¬ 
aged  in  every  possible  way.  Organisation  of  indus¬ 
tries  will  be  promoted  by  a  judicious  system  of 
duties,  by  the  employment  of  cheap  raw  material, 
and  by  the  institution  of  a  Board  to  collect  and  pub¬ 
lish  industrial  statistics. 

But  this  spirit  of  enterprise  must  be  wisely  en¬ 
couraged,  risky  speculation  being  as  far  as  possible 
avoided.  Every  newly  established  industry  must 


54 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


be  long  previously  advertised,  so  as  to  prevent  pro¬ 
moters,  who  six  months  later  might  wrish  to  start 
a  similar  business,  from  preparing  for  themselves 
a  financial  failure.  If  the  Company  carefully  pub¬ 
lishes  the  designs  of  every  new  scheme,  a  knowledge 
of  existing  industrial  conditions  will  be  obtained 
by  every  one. 

Promoters  will  further  be  able  to  make  use  of 
centralised  labour  agencies,  which  will  only  receive 
a  commission  large  enough  to  ensure  their  continu¬ 
ance.  The  promoter  might,  for  example,  telegraph 
for  500  unskilled  labourers  for  three  days,  three 
weeks,  or  three  months.  The  labour  agency  would 
then  collect  these  500  unskilled  labourers  from 
every  possible  source,  and  despatch  them  at  once  to 
carry  out  the  agricultural  or  industrial  undertak¬ 
ing.  Gangs  of  workmen  will  thus  be  systematically 
drafted  from  place  to  place  like  a  body  of  troops. 
These  men  will,  of  course,  not  be  sweated,  but  will 
work  only  a  seven-hours  day;  and,  in  spite  of  their 
change  of  locality,  they  will  preserve  their  military 
organisation,  work  out  their  term  of  service,  and 
receive  commands,  promotions,  and  pensions.  In¬ 
dependent  promoters  will,  of  course,  be  able  to 
obtain  their  workmen  from  other  sources,  but  they 
will  not  find  it  easv  to  do  so.  The  Society  will  be 
able  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  the  sweating 
system  through  non- Jewish  workmen  who  would 
work  overtime,  by  boycotting  the  employers  of 
these,  by  controlling  traffic,  and  by  various  other 
methods.  The  seven-hours  day  must  therefore  be 
adhered  to,  and  we  shall  thus  bring  our  people  grad- 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


55 


ually,  and  without  coercion,  to  adopt  the  normal 
seven-hours  day. 

SETTLEMENT  OF  SKILLED  LABOURERS. 

What  can  be  done  for  unskilled  workers  can  ob¬ 
viously  be  more  easily  done  for  skilled  labourers. 
These  will  work  under  similar  regulations  in  the 
factories,  and  the  central  labour  agency  will  provide 
them  when  required.  Independent  operatives  and 
small  employers,  who  must  be  carefully  taught,  on 
account  of  the  rapid  progress  of  scientific  improve¬ 
ments,  who  must  acquire  technical  knowledge  even 
if  no  longer  very  young  men,  who  must  study  the 
power  of  water,  and  appreciate  the  force  of  elec¬ 
tricity — independent  workers  must  also  be  discov¬ 
ered  and  supplied  by  the  Society’s  agency.  The 
local  group  might  apply,  for  example,  to  the  central 
office:  “We  want  so  many  carpenters,  locksmiths, 
glaziers,  &c.”  The  central  office  would  publish  this 
demand,  and  the  proper  men  would  apply  there  for 
the  work.  These  would  then  travel  with  their  fam¬ 
ilies  to  the  place  where  they  were  wanted,  and  would 
remain  there  without  feeling  the  pressure  of  undue 
competition.  A  permanent  and  comfortable  home 
would  thus  be  provided  for  them. 

METHOD  OF  RAISING  CAPITAL. 

The  capital  required  for  establishing  the  Com¬ 
pany  was  previously  put  at  what  seemed  an  ab¬ 
surdly  high  figure.  The  amount  actually  necessary 
will  be  fixed  by  financiers,  and  will  in  any  case  be  a 


56 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


very  considerable  sum.  There  are  three  wavs  of 
raising  this  sum,  all  of  which  the  Society  will  take 
under  consideration.  This  Society,  the  great 
“Gestor”  of  the  Jews,  will  be  formed  by  our  best 
and  most  upright  men,  who  must  not  derive  any 
material  advantage  from  their  membership.  Al¬ 
though  the  Society  cannot  at  the  outset  possess  any 
but  moral  authority,  this  authority  wdll  yet  suffice 
to  establish  the  credit  of  the  Jewish  Company  in 
the  nation’s  eyes.  The  Jewish  Company  wTill  thus 
be  unable  to  undertake  any  business  enterprise 
which  has  not  received  the  Society’s  sanction;  it 
will  also  not  be  formed  of  any  mere  indiscriminate 
group  of  financiers.  For  the  Society  will  weigh,  se¬ 
lect  and  decide,  and  will  not  give  its  approbation 
till  it  is  sure  of  the  existence  of  good  securities  for 
the  conscientious  carrying  out  of  the  scheme.  It 
will  not  permit  experiments  wdth  insufficient  means, 
for  this  undertaking  must  succeed  at  the  first  at¬ 
tempt.  Any  initial  failure  wrould  compromise  the 
whole  idea  during  many  decades  to  come,  or  might 
even  make  its  realisation  permanently  impossible. 

The  three  methods  of  raising  capital  are:  (1) 
Through  “la  haute  finance”;  (2)  Through  small  and 
private  banks;  (3)  Through  public  subscription.* 

The  easiest,  most  rapid,  and  safest  wmuld  be  by 
“la  haute  finance.”  The  required  sum  would  then 
be  raised  in  the  shortest  possible  time  by  our  great 
body  of  financiers,  after  they  had  discussed  the  ad¬ 
visability  of  the  cause.  The  great  advantage  of 

*  The  third  was  adopted.  The  Jewish  Colonial  Trust  was  capi¬ 
talized  at  £2,000,000,  in  £1  shares. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


57 


this  method  would  be  that  it  would  avoid  the  neces¬ 
sity  of  paying  in  the  thousand  millions  (to  keep  to 
the  original  cipher)  immediately  in  its  entirety.  A 
further  advantage  would  be,  that  the  unlimited 
credit  of  these  powerful  financiers  would  be  of  con¬ 
siderable  value  to  the  Company  in  its  transactions. 
Many  latent  political  forces  lie  in  our  financial 
power,  that  power  which  our  enemies  assert  to  be 
actually  and  now  as  effective  as  we  know  it  might 

•0 

be  if  we  exercised  it.  Poor  Jews  feel  only  the 
hatred  which  this  financial  power  provokes;  its  use 
in  alleviating  their  lot  as  a  body,  they  have  not  yet 
felt.  The  credit  of  our  great  Jewish  financiers 
would  have  to  be  placed  at  the  service  of  the  Na¬ 
tional  Idea.  But  should  these  gentlemen,  who  are 
naturally  satisfied  with  their  lot,  decline  to  do  any¬ 
thing  for  their  co-religionists  who  are  unjustly  held 
responsible  for  the  large  possessions  of  certain  in¬ 
dividuals — should  these  great  financiers  refuse  to 
co-operate — then  the  realisation  of  this  plan  will 
afford  an  opportunity  for  drawing  a  clear  line  of 
distinction  between  them  and  the  rest  of  Judaism. 

The  great  financiers,  moreover,  will  certainly  not 
be  asked  to  raise  an  amount  so  enormous  out  of 
pure  philanthropy;  that  would  be  expecting  too 
much.  The  promoters  and  stock-holders  of  the 
Jewish  Company  are,  on  the  contrary,  intended  to 
do  a  good  piece  of  business,  and  they  will  be  able 
to  calculate  beforehand  what  their  chances  of  suc¬ 
cess  are  likely  to  be.  For  the  Society  of  Jews  will 
be  in  possession  of  all  documents  and  references 
which  may  serve  to  define  the  prospects  of  the  Jew- 


58 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


ish  Company.  The  Society  will  also  undertake 
the  special  duty  of  investigating  with  exacti¬ 
tude  the  extent  of  the  new  Jewish  movement, 
so  as  to  provide  the  Company  promoters  with 
thoroughly  reliable  information  on  the  amount 
of  support  they  may  expect.  The  Society  will 
also  supply  the  Jewish  Company  with  compre¬ 
hensive  modern  Jewish  statistics,  thus  doing  the 
work  of  what  is  called  in  France  a  “societe 
d’etudes,”  which  undertakes  all  preliminary  re¬ 
search  previous  to  the  financing  of  a  great  under¬ 
taking.  Even  so,  the  enterprise  may  not  receive 
the  valuable  assistance  of  our  money  magnates. 
These  might,  perhaps,  even  try  to  oppose  the  Jewish 
movement  bv  means  of  their  secret  servitors  and 
agents.  Such  opposition  we  shall  meet  fairly  and 
bravelv. 

Supposing  that  these  magnates  are  content  sim 
ply  to  refuse  their  support  to  the  scheme: 

Is  it,  therefore,  done  with? 

No. 

For  then  the  money  will  be  raised  in  another  way 
— by  an  appeal  to  moderately  rich  Jews.  The 
smaller  Jewish  properties  would  have  to  be  united 
in  the  name  of  the  National  Idea  till  thev  were 
gathered  into  a  second  and  formidable  financial 
force.  But,  unfortunately,  this  would  require  a 
great  deal  of  financing  at  first— for  the  £50,000,000 
would  have  to  be  subscribed  in  full  before  starting 
work;  and,  as  this  sum  could  only  be  raised  very 
slowly,  all  sorts  of  banking  business  would  have  to 
be  done  and  loans  made  during  the  first  few  years. 


THE  JEWISH  QUESTION. 


59 


It  might  even  occur  that,  in  the  course  of  all  these 
transactions,  the  ultimate  object  of  them  would  be 
forgotten;  Jews  would  create  a  new  and  large  busi¬ 
ness,  and  forget  all  about  emigration. 

The  notion  of  raising  money  in  this  way  is  not  by 
any  means  impracticable.  The  experiment  of  col¬ 
lecting  Christian  money  to  form  an  opposing  force 
to  great  financiers  has  already  been  tried;  the  ex¬ 
periment  of  opposing  it  with  Jewish  money  has 
merely  been  thought  of;  it  is  quite  feasible. 

But  these  financial  quarrels  would  bring  about 
endless  crises;  the  countries  in  which  they  occurred 
would  suffer  severely,  and  Anti-Semitism  would  be¬ 
come  rampant  everywhere. 

This  method  is  therefore  not  to  be  recommended. 
I  have  merely  suggested  it,  because  it  comes  up  in 
the  course  of  the  logical  development  of  the  idea. 

It  is  also  doubtful  whether  smaller  private  banks 
would  be  willing  to  adopt  it. 

In  any  case,  the  refusal  of  moderately  rich  Jews 

would  not  even  put  an  end  to  the  scheme.  A  third 

method  of  carrying  it  out  remains  to  be  tried.  . 

\ 

The  Society  of  Jews,  whose  members  are  not 
business  men,  might  try  to  found  the  Company  on 
a  national  subscription. 

The  Company’s  capital  might  be  raised  without 
the  assistance  of  a  syndicate,  by  the  direct  imposi¬ 
tion  of  a  subscription  on  the  public.  Not  only  poor 
Jews,  but  also  Christians  who  wanted  to  get  rid  of 
them,  would  subscribe  their  small  quota  to  this 
fund.  A  new  and  peculiar  form  of  the  plebiscite 
would  thus  be  established,  whereby  each  man  who 


60 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


voted  for  this  solution  of  the  Jewish  Question  would 
express  his  favourable  opinion  by  subscribing  a  stip¬ 
ulated  amount.  This  stipulation  would  produce  se¬ 
curity.  The  funds  subscribed  would  only  be  paid  in 
if  their  sum  total  reached  the  required  amount;  if 
the  tenders  were  not  sufficiently  numerous,  they 
would  be  returned. 

But  should  the  sum  total  raised  all  over  the  world 
by  a  public  tax  reach  the  required  amount,  then 
each  little  subscription  would  be  secured  by  the 
great  numbers  of  other  small  subscriptions. 

All  this  could,  of  course,  not  be  done  without  the 
express  and  definite  assistance  of  interested  Gov¬ 
ernments. 


LOCAL  GROUPS 


OUR  TRANSMIGRATION. 

Previous  chapters  explained  only  how  the  emigra¬ 
tion  scheme  might  be  carried  out  without  creating 
any  economic  disturbance.  But  so  great  a  move¬ 
ment  cannot  take  place  without  inevitably  rousing 
many  deep  and  powerful  feelings.  Old  customs,  old 
memories  attach  us  to  our  homes.  We  have  cra¬ 
dles,  wre  have  graves,  and  we  alone  know  how  Jew¬ 
ish  hearts  cling  to  the  graves.  Our  cradles  we  shall 
carry  with  us — they  hold  our  future,  rosy  and  smil¬ 
ing.  Our  beloved  graves  we  must,  alas!  abandon — 
and  I  think  this  abandonment  will  cost  us  covetous 
people  more  than  any  other  sacrifice.  But  it  must 
be  so. 

Economic  distress,  political  pressure,  and  social 
obloquy  have  already  driven  us  from  our  homes  and 
from  our  graves.  We  Jews  are  even  now  perpet¬ 
ually  shifting  from  place  to  place,  a  strong  current 
actually  carrying  us  westward  over  the  sea  to  the 
United  States,  where  our  presence  is  not  desired. 
And  where  will  our  presence  be  desired,  so  long  as 
wTe  are  a  homeless  nation? 


62 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


But  we  shall  give  a  home  to  our  people.  And  we 
shall  give  it,  not  by  dragging  them  ruthlessly  out  of 
their  sustaining  soil,  but  rather  by  transplanting 
them  carefully  to  a  better  ground.  Though  we  are 
creating  new  political  and  economic  relations,  we 
shall  preserve  as  sacred  all  that  is  dear  to  our  peo¬ 
ple’s  hearts. 

Here  a  fewr  suggestions  must  suffice,  as  this  part 
of  my  scheme  wTill  most  probably  be  condemned  as 
visionary.  Yet  even  this  is  possible  and  real, 
though  it  now  appears  to  be  something  vague  and 
aimless.  Organisation  will  make  of  it  something 

rational. 

> 

EMIGRATION  IN  GROUPS. 

Our  people  may  emigrate  in  groups  of  families 
and  friends.  Bgt  no  man  will  be  forced  to  join  the 
particular  group  belonging  to  his  former  place  of 
residence.  Each  will  be  able  to  journey  in  his 
chosen  fashion  as  soon  as  he  has  settled  his  affairs. 
Seeing  that  each  man  will  pay  his  own  expenses  by 
rail  and  boat,  he  will  naturally  travel  by  whatever 
class  suits  him  best.  Possibly  there  will  even  be  no 
subdivision  of  classes  on  board  train  and  boat,  so  as 
to  avoid  making  the  poor,  who  form  the  great  ma¬ 
jority  of  passengers,  feel  their  position  too  keenly 
during  their  long  journey.  Though  we  are  not 
exactly  organising  a  pleasure  trip,  it  is  as  well  to 
keep  them  in  good-humour  on  the  way. 

None  wdll  travel  in  penury;  on  the  other  hand,  all 
who  desire  to  travel  in  luxurious  ease  will  be  able 


LOCAL  GROUPS;  63 

to  follow  tlieir  bent.  Even  under  favourable  cir¬ 
cumstances,  the  movement  may  not  touch  certain 
classes  of  Jews  for  several  years  to  come;  the  inter¬ 
vening  period  can  therefore  be  employed  in  select¬ 
ing  the  best  modes  of  organising  the  journeys. 
Those  who  are  well-off  can  travel  in  parties  if  they 
wish,  taking  their  personal  friends  and  connections 
with  them.  Jews,  with  the  exception  of  the  rich¬ 
est,  have,  after  all,  very  little  intercourse  with 
Christians.  In  some  countries  their  acquaintance 
with  them  is  confined  to  a  few  spongers,  borrowers, 
and  dependents;  of  a  better  class  of  Christian  they 
know  nothing.  The  Ghetto  subsists  still,  though 
its  walls  are  broken  down.  -  7  -  • 

The  middle  classes  will  therefore  make  elaborate 
and  careful  preparations  for  departure.  A  group 
of  travellers  will  be  formed  in  each  locality,  large 
towns  being  divided  into  districts,  with  a  group  in 
each  district,  who  will  communicate  by  means  of 
representatives  elected  for  the  purpose.  This  di¬ 
vision  into  districts  need  not  be  strictly  adhered  to; 
it  is  merely  intended  to  alleviate  the  discomfort  and 
home-sickness  of  the  poor  during  their  journey  out¬ 
wards.  If  they  so  choose,  they  may  either  travel 
alone  or  attached  to  any  local  group  they  prefer. 
The  conditions  of  travel — regulated  according  to 
classes — will  apply  to  all  alike.  Any  sufficiently 
numerous  travelling  party  can  charter  a  special 
train  and  special  boat  from  the  Company. 

The  Company’s  house-agency  will  provide  quar¬ 
ters  for  the  poorest  on  their  arrival.  Later  on, 
when  more  prosperous  emigrants  follow,  their  ob- 


64 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


✓ 

vious  need  for  lodgings  on  first  landing  will  have 
been  supplied  by  hotels  built  by  private  enterprise. 
Some  of  these  more  prosperous  colonists  will,  in¬ 
deed,  have  built  their  houses  before  becoming  per¬ 
manent  settlers,  so  that  they  will  merely  move  from 
an  old  home  into  a  new  one. 

It  would  be  an  affront  to  our  intelligence  to  point 
out  everything  that  we  might  do.  Every  man  who 
attaches  himself  to  the  National  Idea  will  know 
how  to  spread  it,  and  how  to  make  it  actual  within 
his  sphere  of  influence.  We  shall  first  of  all  ask 
for  the  co-operation  of  our  ministers. 

OUR  MINISTERS. 

Every  group  will  have  its  minister,  travelling 
with  his  congregation.  Local  groups  will  after¬ 
wards  form  voluntarily  about  their  minister,  and 
each  locality  will  have  its  spiritual  guide.  Our 
ministers,  on  whom  we  especially  call,  will  devote 
their  energies  to  the  service  of  our  idea,  and  will 
inspire  their  congregations  by  preaching  it  from  the 
pulpit.  They  wall Tnot  need  to  address  special  meet¬ 
ings  for  the  purpose;  an  appeal  such  as  this  may  be 
uttered  in  the  synagogue.  And  thus  it  must  be 
done.  For  we  feel  our  historic  affinity  only  through 
the  faith  of  our  fathers;  the  very  language  of  dif¬ 
ferent  nations  has  been  impressed  on  us  so  deeply 
that  it  seems  impossible  to  obliterate  it. 

The  ministers  will  receive  communications  regu¬ 
larly  from  both  Society  and  Company,  and  will  an¬ 
nounce  and  explain  these  to  their  congregations. 
Israel  will  pray  for  us  and  for  itself. 


LOCAL  GROUPS. 


65 


RESPONSIBLE  MEN  OF  THE  LOCAL  GROUPS. 

0 

The  local  groups  will  appoint  small  committees 
of  responsible  men  under  the  minister’s  presidency, 
for  discussion  and  settlement  of  local  affairs. 

Philanthropic  institutions  will  be  transferred  by 
their  local  groups;  each  institution  remaining  “over 
there”  the  property  of  the  same  set  of  people  for 
whom  it  was  originally  founded.  I  think  the  old 
buildings  should  not  be  sold,  but  rather  devoted  to 
the  assistance  of  indigent  Christians  in  the  for¬ 
saken  towns.  The  local  group  will  receive  compen¬ 
sation  by  obtaining  free  building  sites  and  every 
facility  for  reconstruction  in  the  new  country. 

This  transfer  of  philanthropic  institutions  will 
give  another  of  those  opportunities  which  occur  at 
different  points  of  my  scheme,  for  making  an  ex¬ 
periment  in  the  service  of  humanity.  Our  present 
unsystematic  private  philanthropy  does  little  good 
in  proportion  to  the  great  expenditure  it  involves. 
But  these  institutions  can  and  must  form  part  of  a 
system  by  which  they  will  eventually  supplement 
one  another.  In  a  new  society  these  organisations 
can  be  evolved  out  of  our  modern  consciousness, 
and  may  be  based  on  all  previous  socio-political  ex¬ 
periments.  This  matter  is  of  great  importance  to 
us,  on  account  of  our  large  number  of  paupers.  The 
weaker  characters  among  us,  discouraged  by  exter¬ 
nal  pressure,  spoilt  by  the  soft-hearted  charity  of 
our  rich  men,  easily  sink,  till  they  take  to  begging. 

The  Society,  supported  by  the  local  groups,  will 
give  the  greatest  attention  to  popular  education 


66 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


with  regard  to  this  particular.  It  will  create  a 
fruitful  soil  for  many  powers  which  now  wither  use¬ 
lessly  away.  Whoever  shows  a  genuine  desire  to 
work  will  be  suitably  employed.  Beggars  will  not 
be  endured.  Whoever  refuses  to  do  anything  as  a 
free  man  will  be  sent  to  the  workhouse. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  shall  not  despatch  the  old 
to  an  infirmary.  An  infirmary  is  one  of  the  cruel¬ 
lest  charities  which  our  stupid  good-nature  ever  in¬ 
vented.  There  our  old  people  die  out  of  pure  shame 
and  mortification.  There  they  are  already  buried 
But  we  will  leave  to  those  even  who  stand  on  the 
lowest  grade  of  intelligence  the  consoling  illusion 
of  their  utility  in  the  world.  We  will  provide  easy 
tasks  for  those  who  are  incapable  of  physical 
labour;  for  we  must  allow  for  diminished  vitality  in 
the  poor  of  an  already  enfeebled  generation.  But 
future  generations  shall  be  dealt  with  otherwise; 
they  shall  be  brought  up  in  liberty  for  a  life  of  lib¬ 
erty. 

We  will  seek  to  bestow  the  moral  salvation  of 
work  on  men  of  every  age  and  of  every  class;  and 
thus  our  people  will  find  their  strength  again  in  the 
land  of  the  seven-hours  day. 

PLANS  OF  THE  TOWNS. 

The  local  groups  will  delegate  their  representa¬ 
tives  to  select  sites  for  towns.  In  the  distribution 
of  land,  every  precaution  will  be  taken  to  effect  a 
careful  transfer  with  due  consideration  for  acquired 
rights. 


LOCAL  GROUPS. 


67 


The  local  groups  will  have  plans  of  the  towns,  so 
that  our  people  may  know  beforehand  where  they 
are  to  go,  in  which  towns  and  in  which  houses  they 
are  to  live.  Comprehensible  drafts  of  the  building 
plans  previously  referred  to  will  be  distributed 
among  the  local  groups. 

The  principle  of  our  administration  will  be  strict 
centralisation,  of  our  local  groups  complete  auton 
omy.  In  this  way  the  transfer  will  be  accomplished 
with  the  minimum  of  pain. 

I  do  not  imagine  all  this  to  be  easier  than  it  ac¬ 
tually  is;  on  the  other  hand,  people  must  not  imag¬ 
ine  it  to  be  more  difficult  than  it  is  in  reality. 

i 

THE  DEPARTURE  OF  THE  MIDDLE 

CLASSES. 

The  middle  classes  will  involuntarily  be  drawn 
into  the  outgoing  current,  for  their  sons  will  be  the 
Company’s  officials  and  employes  “over  there.” 
Lawyers,  doctors,  scientists  of  every  description, 
young  traders — in  fact,  all  Jews  who  are  in  search 
of  opportunities,  who  now  escape  from  oppression 
in  their  native  country  to  earn  a  living  in  foreign 
lands — will  assemble  on  a  soil  so  full  of  fair  prom¬ 
ise.  The  daughters  of  the  middle  classes  will  have 
married  these  ambitious  men.  One  of  them  will 
send  for  his  wife  to  come  out  to  him,  another  for  his 
parents,  brothers  and  sisters.  Members  of  a  new 
civilisation  marry  young.  This  can  but  promote 
general  morality  and  ensure  sturdiness  in  the  scions 
of  our  race;  and  thus  we  shall  have  no  delicate  off- 


68 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


spring  of  late  marriages,  children  of  fathers  who 
spent  their  strength  in  the  struggle  for  life. 

Every  middle-class  emigrant  will  drawT  more  of 
his  kind  after  him. 

The  bravest  will  naturally  get  the  best  out  of 
the  new  world. 

But  here  we  seem  undoubtedly  to  have  touched 
on  the  crucial  difficulty  of  my  plan. 

Even  if  we  succeeded  in  opening  a  serious  general 
discussion  on  the  Jewish  Question — 

Even  if  this  debate  led  us  to  a  positive  conclusion 
that  the  Jewish  State  were  necessary  to  the  world — - 

Even  if  the  Powers  assisted  us  in  acquiring  the 
sovereignty  over  a  strip  of  territory — 

How  are  we  to  transport  masses  of  Jews  without 
undue  compulsion  from  their  present  homes  to  this 
new  country? 

Their  emigration  is  surely  voluntary? 

THE  PHENOMENON  OF  MULTITUDES. 

Great  exertions  will  not  be  necessary  to  spur  on 
the  movement.  Anti-Semites  provide  the  requisite 
impetus.  They  need  only  do  what  they  did  before, 
and  then  they  will  create  a  love  of  emigration  where 
it  did  not  previously  exist,  and  strengthen  it  where 
it  existed  before.  Jewrs  who  now  remain  in  Anti- 
Semitic  countries  do  so  chiefly  because,  even  those 
among  them  who  are  most  ignorant  of  history, 
know  that  numerous  changes  of  residence  in  bygone 
centuries  never  brought  them  any  permanent  good 
Any  land  which  welcomed  the  Jews  to-day,  and  of¬ 
fered  them  even  fewer  advantages  than  the  future 


LOCAL  GROUPS.  6y 

Jewish  State  would  guarantee  them,  would  imme¬ 
diately  attract  a  great  influx  of  our  people.  The 
poorest,  who  have  nothing  to  lose,  would  drag 
themselves  there.  But  I  maintain,  and  every  man 
may  ask  himself  whether  I  am  not  right,  that  the 
pressure  weighing  on  us  rouses  a  desire  to  emigrate 
even  among  prosperous  strata  of  society.  Now  our 
poorest  strata  alone  would  suffice  to  found  a  State; 
for  these  make  the  most  vigorous  conquerors,  be¬ 
cause  a  little  despair  is  indispensable  to  the  forma¬ 
tion  of  a  great  undertaking. 

But  when  our  desperadoes  increase  the  value  of 
the  land  by  their  presence  and  by  the  labour  they 
expend  on  it,  they  make  it  at  the  same  time  increas¬ 
ingly  attractive  as  a  place  of  settlement  to  people 
who  are  better  off. 

Higher  and  yet  higher  strata  will  feel  tempted  to 
go  over.  The  expedition  of  the  first  and  poorest 
settlers  will  be  conducted  by  conjoint  Company  and 
Society,  and  will  probably  be  additionally  supported 
by  existing  emigration  and  Zionist  societies. 

How  may  a  number  of  people  be  concentrated  on 
a  particular  spot  without  being  given  express  or¬ 
ders  to  go  there?  There  are  certain  Jews,  bene¬ 
factors  on  a  large  scale,  who  try  to  alleviate  the 
sufferings  of  their  co-religionists  by  Zionist  experi¬ 
ments.  To  them  this  problem  also  presented  itself, 
and  they  thought  to  solve  it  by  giving  the  emigrants 
money  or  means  of  employment.  Thus  the  philan¬ 
thropists  said:  “We  pay  these  people  to  go  there.” 

Such  an  experiment  is  utterly  at  fault,  and  all  the 

*  •  »  ».  • 

money  in  the  world  will  not  achieve  its  purpose. 


70 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


On  the  other  hand,  the  Company  will  say:  “We 
shall  not  pay  them,  we  shall  let  them  pay  us.  We 
shall  merely  offer  them  some  inducement  to  go.” 

A  fanciful  illustration  will  make  my  meaning 
more  explicit:  One  of  these  philanthropists  (whom 
we  will  call  “The  Baron”)  and  myself  both  wish  to 
get  a  crowd  of  people  on  to  the  plain  of  Long- 
champs,  near  Paris,  on  a  hot  Sunday  afternoon. 
The  Baron,  by  promising  them  10  francs  each,  will, 
for  200,000  francs,  bring  out  20,000  perspiring  and 
miserable  people,  who  will  curse  him  for  having 
given  them  so  much  annoyance.  Whereas  I  will 
offer  these  200,000  francs  as  a  prize  for  the  swiftest 
race-horse — and  then  I  shall  have  to  put  up  barriers 
to  keep  the  people  off  Longchamps.  They  will  pay 
to  go  in:  1  franc,  5  francs,  20  francs. 

The  consequence  will  be  that  I  shall  get  half  a 
million  of  people  out  there;  the  President  of  the 
Republic  will  drive  a  la  Daumont;  and  the  crowds 
will  enjoy  and  amuse  themselves.  Most  of  them 
will  think  it  an  agreeable  walk  in  the  open  air,  spite 
of  heat  and  dust;  and  I  shall  have  made  by  my 
200,000  francs  about  a  million  in  entrance-money 
and  taxes  on  gaming.  I  shall  get  the  same  people 
out  there  whenever  I  like;  but  the  Baron  will  not — 
not  on  any  account. 

I  will  give  a  more  serious  illustration  of  the  phe¬ 
nomenon  of  multitudes  where  they  are  earning  a 
livelihood.  Let  any  man  attempt  to  cry  through 
the  streets  of  a  town:  “Whoever  is  willing  to  stand 
all  day  long  through  a  winter’s  terrible  cold, 
through  a  summer’s  tormenting  heat,  in  an  iron  hall 


I 


LOCAL  GROUPS.  71 

exposed  on  all  sides,  there  to  address  every  passer¬ 
by,  and  to  offer  him  fancy  wares,  or  fish,  or  fruit, 
will  receive  2  florins,  or  4  francs,  or  something  sim¬ 
ilar.” 

How  many  people  wmuld  go  to  the  hall?  How 
many  days  would  they  hold  out  when  hunger  drove 
them  there?  And  if  they  held  out,  what  energy 
would  they  display  in  trying  to  persuade  passers-by 
to  buy  fish,  fruit,  and  fancy  wares? 

We  shall  set  about  it  in  a  different  way.  In 
places  where  trade  is  active,  and  these  places  we 
shall  the  more  easily  discover,  since  we  ourselves 
form  channels  for  trade  to  various  localities;  in 
these  places  ive  shall  build  large  halls,  and  call 
them  markets.  These  halls  might  be  worse  built 
and  more  unwholesome  than  those  above  men¬ 
tioned,  and  yet  people  would  stream  towards  them. 
But  we  shall  use  our  best  efforts,  and  we  shall  build 
them  better,  and  make  them  more  beautiful  than 
the  first.  And  the  people,  to  whom  we  had  prom¬ 
ised  nothing,  because  we  cannot  promise  anything 
without  deceiving  them,  these  brave,  keen  business 
men  will  gaily  create  most  active  commercial  inter¬ 
course.  They  will  harangue  the  buyers  unweariedly; 
thev  will  stand  on  their  feet,  and  scarcely  think  of 
fatigue.  They  will  hurry  off  day  after  day,  so  as  to 
be  first  on  the  spot;  they  will  make  agreements, 
promises,  anything  to  continue  bread-winning  un¬ 
disturbed.  And  if  they  find  on  Sabbath  night  that 
all  their  hard  work  has  produced  only  1  florin  50 
kreuzer,  or  3  francs,  or  something  similar,  they  tv  ill 


72 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


jet  look  forward  hopefully  to  the  next  day,  which 
may,  perhaps,  bring  them  better  luck. 

We  have  given  them  hope. 

Would  any  one  ask  whence  the  demand  comes 
which  creates  the  market?  Is  it  really  necessary  to 
tell  them  again? 

I  pointed  out  before  that  the  labour-test  increased 
our  gain  fifteenfold.  One  million  produced  fifteen 
millions;  and  one  thousand  millions,  fifteen  thou¬ 
sand  millions. 

This  may  be  the  case  on  a  small  scale;  is  it  so  on 
a  large  one?  Capital  surely  yields  a  return  dimin¬ 
ishing  in  inverse  ratio  to  its  own  growth?  Inactive 
capital  yields  this  diminishing  return,  but  active 
capital  brings  in  a  marvellously  increasing  return. 
Herein  lies  the  social  question. 

Am  I  stating  a  fact?  I  call  on  the  richest  Jews 
as  witnesses  of  my  veracity.  Why  do  these  carry 
on  so  many  different  industries?  Why  do  they 
send  men  to  work  underground  and  to  raise  coal 
amid  terrible  dangers  for  miserable  pay?  I  cannot 
imagine  this  to  be  pleasant,  even  for  the  owners  of 
the  mines.  For  I  do  not  believe  that  capitalists  are 
heartless,  and  I  do  not  take  up  the  attitude  of  be¬ 
lieving  it.  My  desire  is  not  to  accentuate,  but  to 
smooth  differences. 

Is  it  necessary  to  illustrate  the  phenomenon  of 
multitudes,  and  their  concentration  on  a  particular 
spot,  by  references  to  pious  pilgrimages? 

I  do  not  want  to  hurt  any  one’s  religious  sensi¬ 
bility  by  words  which  might  be  wrongly  interpreted 

I  shall  merely  refer  quite  briefly  to  the  Mahon, 


LOCAL  GROUPS. 


73 


medan  pilgrimages  to  Mecca,  the  Catholic  pilgrim¬ 
ages  to  Lourdes  and  to  many  other  spots  whence 
men  return  comforted  by  their  faith,  and  to  the  holy 
Coat  at  Trier.  Thus  we  shall  also  create  a  centre 
for  the  deep  religious  needs  of  our  people.  Our 
ministers  will  understand  us  first,  and  will  be  with 
us  in  this. 

We  shall  let  every  man  find  salvation  “over  there” 
in  his  own  particular  way.  Above  and  before  all 
we  shall  make  room  for  the  immortal  band  of  our 
Freethinkers,  who  are  continually  making  new  con¬ 
quests  for  humanity. 

No  more  force  will  be  exercised  on  any  one  than 
is  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the  State  and 
the  upholding  of  its  statutes;  and  the  requisite  force 
will  not  be  arbitrarily  defined  by  one  or  more  shift¬ 
ing  authorities;  it  will  be  fixed  by  iron  laws. 

Now  if  the  illustrations  I  gave  make  people  draw 
the  inference  that  a  multitude  can  be  only  tempo¬ 
rarily  attracted  to  centres  of  faith,  of  business,  or 
of  amusement,  the  reply  to  their  objection  is  simple. 
Whereas  one  of  these  objects  by  itself  would  cer¬ 
tainly  only  allure  the  masses,  all  these  centres  of 
attraction  combined  would  be  fully  qualified  per¬ 
manently  to  hold  and  satisfy  them.  For  all  these 
centres  together  form  a  single,  great,  long-sought 
object,  which  our  people  has  always  longed  to  at¬ 
tain,  for  which  it  has  kept  itself  alive,  for  which  it 
has  been  kept  alive  by  external  pressure — a  free 
home!  When  the  movement  commences,  we  shall 
draw  some  men  after  us  and  let  others  follow; 


74 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


others  again  will  be  swept  into  the  current,  and  the 
last  will  be  thrust  after  us. 

These  last  hesitating  colonists  will  be  the  worst 
off,  both  here  and  there. 

But  the  first,  who  go  over  with  faith,  enthusiasm, 
and  courage,  will  have  the  best  of  the  bargain. 

OUR  INTRINSIC  QUALITIES. 

There  are  more  mistaken  notions  abroad  concern¬ 
ing  Jews  than  concerning  any  other  people.  And 
we  ourselves  have  become  so  depressed  and  dis¬ 
couraged  by  our  historic  sufferings  that,  parrot-like, 
we  repeat  and  believe  these  mistakes.  Such  a  one 
is  the  assertion  that  our  love  of  business  is  extreme. 
Now  it  is  well  known  that  wherever  we  are  per¬ 
mitted  to  take  part  in  the  uprising  of  classes,  we 
give  up  our  business  as  soon  as  possible.  The  great 
majority  of  Jewish  business  men  give  their  sons  a 
superior  education.  Hence,  indeed,  the  so-called 
“Judaising”  of  good  professions.  But  even  in  eco¬ 
nomically  feebler  grades  of  society,  our  love  of  trade 
is  not  so  predominant  as  is  generally  supposed.  In 
the  Eastern  countries  of  Europe  there  are  great 
numbers  of  Jews  who  are  not  traders,  and  who  are 
not  afraid  of  hard  work  either.  The  Society  of  Jews 
will  be  in  a  position  to  prepare  scientifically  accu¬ 
rate  statistics  of  our  human  forces.  The  new 
duties  and  prospects  which  the  new  country  offers 
to  our  people  will  satisfy  our  present  handicrafts¬ 
men,  and  will  transform  many  present  small  traders 
into  manual  workers. 


LOCAL  GROUPS. 


75 


A  pedlar  who  travels  about  the  country  with  a 
heavy  pack  on  his  back  is  not  so  contented  as  his 
persecutors  imagine.  The  seven-hours  day  will 
convert  all  of  his  kind  into  workmen.  They  are 
brave,  misunderstood  people,  who  now  suffer  per¬ 
haps  more  severely  than  any  others.  The  Society 
of  JeAvs  Avill  moreover  busv  itself  from  the  outset 
with  their  training  as  artisans.  Their  love  of  gain 
will  be  encouraged  in  wholesome  fashion.  Jews  are  ' 
of  saving  and  adaptable  disposition,  and  are  pos¬ 
sessed  of  strong  family  feeling.  Such  people  are 
qualified  for  any  means  of  earning  a  living,  and  it 
will  therefore  suffice  to  make  small  trading  unre- 
munerative,  to  cause  even  present  pedlars  to  give  it 
up  altogether.  This  could  be  brought  about,  for 
example,  by  encouraging  large  trading-houses 
which  provide  all  necessaries  of  life.  These  gen¬ 
eral  trading-houses  are  already  crushing  small  trad 
ing  in  capital  towns.  In  the  land  of  new  civilisa¬ 
tion  they  will  absolutely  prevent  its  existence.  The 
establishment  of  these  trading-houses  is  further 
adAmntageous,  because  it  makes  the  country  imme¬ 
diately  habitable  for  people  avIio  require  more  re¬ 
fined  necessaries  of  life. 

HABITS. 

Is  a  reference  to  the  little  habits  and  comforts  of 
the  ordinary  man,  in  character  with  the  serious  na 
ture  of  this  pamphlet? 

I  think  it  is  in  character,  and,  moreover,  very 

important.  For  these  little  habits  are  the  thou- 

* 


76 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


sand  and  one  fine  delicate  threads  which  together 
go  to  make  up  an  unbreakable  rope. 

Here  certain  limited  notions  must  be  set  aside. 
Whoever  has  seen  anything  of  the  world  knows  that 
just  these  little  daily  customs  can  easily  be  trans¬ 
planted  everywhere.  The  technical  contrivances  of 
our  day,  which  this  scheme  intends  to  employ  in  the 
service  of  humanity,  have  heretofore  been  princi¬ 
pally  used  for  our  little  habits.  There  are  Englisu 
hotels  in  Egypt  and  on  the  mountain-crests  ot 
Switzerland,  Vienna  cafes  in  South  Africa,  French 
theatres  in  Russia,  German  operas  in  America,  and 
best  Bavarian  beer  in  Paris. 

When  we  journey  out  of  Egypt  again,  we  shall 
not  leave  the  fleshpots  behind. 

Every  man  will  find  his  customs  again  in  the  local 
groups,  but  they  will  be  better,  more  beautiful,  and 
more  agreeable  than  before. 


SOCIETY  OF  JEWS  AND 
JEWISH  STATE 

NEGOTIORUM  GESTIO. 

This  pamphlet  is  not  intended  for  lawyers.  I  can 
therefore  only  touch  cursorily,  as  I  have  so  often 
done,  upon  my  theory  of  the  legal  basis  of  a  State. 

I  must,  nevertheless,  lay  some  stress  on  my  new 
theory,  which  could  be  maintained,  I  believe,  even 
in  discussion  with  men  well  versed  in  jurisprudence. 

According  to  ^Rousseau’s  now  antiquated  view,  a 
State  is  formed  by  a  social  contract.  Rousseau 
held  that:  “The  conditions  of  this  contract  are  so 
precisely  defined  by  the  nature  of  the  agreement 
that  the  slightest  alteration  would  make  them  null 
and  void.  The  consequence  is  that,  even  where 
they  are  not  expressly  stated,  they  are  everywhere 
identical,  and  everywhere  tacitly  accepted  and  rec¬ 
ognised,”  &c. 

A  logical  and  historic  refutation  of  Rousseau’s 
theory  was  never,  nor  is  now,  difficult,  however  ter¬ 
rible  and  far-reaching  its  effects  mav  have  been. 
The  question  whether  a  social  contract  with  “con- 


78 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


ditions  not  expressly  stated,  yet  unalterable/' 
existed  before  the  framing  of  a  constitution,  is  a 
question  of  little  actual  interest  to  States  under 
modern  forms  of  government.  The  legal  relation¬ 
ship  between  government  and  citizen  is  in  any  case 
clearly  established  now. 

But  previous  to  the  framing  of  a  constitution, 
and  during  the  creation  of  a  new  State,  these  prin¬ 
ciples  assume  great  practical  importance.  We 
know  and  see  for  ourselves  that  States  still  continue 
to  be  created.  Colonies  secede  from  the  mother 
country.  Vassals  fall  away  from  their  suzerain; 
newly  opened  territories  are  immediately  formed 
into  free  States.  It  is  true  that  the  Jewish  State  is 
conceived  as  a  peculiarly  modern  structure  on  un¬ 
specified  territory.  But  a  State  is  formed,  not  by 
pieces  of  land,  but  rather  by  a  number  of  men  united 
under  sovereign  rule. 

Man  is  the  human,  land  the  objective,  groundwork 
of  a  State;  the  human  basis  being  the  more  impor¬ 
tant  of  the  two.  One  supremacy,  for  example, 
which  has  no  objective  basis  at  all  is  perhaps  more 
respected  than  any  in  the  world,  and  this  is  the 
supremacy  of  the  Pope. 

The  theory  of  rationality  is  the  one  at  present 
accepted  in  political  science.  This  theory  suffices 
to  justify  the  creation  of  a  State,  and  cannot  be  his¬ 
torically  refuted  in  the  same  way  as  the  theory  of  a 
contract.  In  so  far  as  I  am  concerned  only  with 
the  creation  of  a  Jewish  State,  I  am  well  wfithin  the 
limits  of  the  theory  of  rationality.  But  when  I 
touch  upon  the  legal  basis  of  the  State,  I  have  ex- 


SOCIETY  OF  JEWS  AND  JEWISH  STATE. 


79 


ceeded  them.  The  theories  of  a  Divine  institution, 
or  of  superior  power,  or  of  a  contract,  and  the  patri¬ 
archal  and  patrimonial  theories  do  not  respond  to 
modern  views.  The  legal  basis  of  a  State  is  sought 
either  too  much  within  men  (patriarchal  theory, 
and  theories  of  superior  force  and  contract),  or  too 
far  above  them  (Divine  institution),  or  too  far  below 
them  (objective  patrimonial  theory).  The  theory  of 
rationality  leaves  this  question  conveniently  and 
carefully  unanswered.  But  a  question  which  has 
seriously  occupied  doctors  of  jurisprudence  in  every 
age  cannot  be  an  absolutely  idle  one.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  a  mixture  of  human  and  superhuman  goes 
to  the  making  of  a  State.  Some  legal  basis  is  in¬ 
dispensable  to  explain  the  somewhat  oppressive  re¬ 
lationship  in  which  subjects  occasionally  stand  to 
rulers.  I  believe  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  “negoti- 
orum  gestio,”  wherein  the  body  of  citizens  represent 

the  dominus  negotiorum,  and  the  government  rep¬ 
resents  the  gestor. 

The  Romans,  with  their  marvellous  sense  of  jus¬ 
tice,  produced  that  noble  masterpiece  the  negoti¬ 
orum  gestio.  When  the  property  of  an  oppressed 
person  is  in  danger,  any  man  may  step  forward  to 
save  it.  This  man  is  the  gestor,  the  director  of  af¬ 
fairs  not  strictly  his  own.  He  has  received  no  war¬ 
rant — that  is,  no  human  warrant — higher  obliga¬ 
tions  authorise  him  to  act.  The  higher  obligations 
may  be  formulated  in  different  ways;  firstly,  for  the 
State;  and  secondly,  so  as  to  respond  to  individual 
degrees  of  culture  attained  by  a  growing  general 
power  of  comprehension.  The  gestio  is  intended 


80 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


to  work  for  the  good  of  the  dominus — the  people, 
to  whom  the  gestor  himself  belongs. 

The  gestor  administrates  property  of  wdiicli  he  is 
joint-owner.  His  joint  proprietorship  teaches  him 
what  urgency  would  warrant  his  intervention,  and 
would  demand  his  leadership  in  peace  or  war;  but 
under  no  circumstances  is  his  authority  valid  qua 
joint  proprietorship.  The  consent  of  the  numerous 
joint-owners  is  even  under  most  favourable  condi¬ 
tions  a  matter  of  conjecture. 

A  State  is  created  by  a  nation’s  struggle  for  ex¬ 
istence.  In  any  such  struggle  it  is  impossible  to 
obtain  proper  authority  in  circumstantial  fashion 
beforehand.  In  fact,  any  previous  attempt  to  ob¬ 
tain  a  regular  decree  from  the  majority  would  prob¬ 
ably  ruin  the  undertaking  from  the  outset.  For  in¬ 
ternal  schisms  would  make  the  people  defenceless 
against  external  dangers.  We  cannot  all  be  of  one 
mind;  the  gestor  will  therefore  simply  take  the  lead¬ 
ership  into  his  hands  and  march  in  the  van. 

The  action  of  the  gestor  of  the  State  is  sufficiently 
warranted  if  the  common  cause  is  in  danger,  and 
the  dominus  is  prevented,  either  by  want  of  will  or 
by  some  other  reason,  from  helping  itself. 

But  the  gestor  identifies  himself  with  the  people 
by  his  intervention,  and  is  bound  by  the  agreement 
quasi  ex  contractu.  This  is  the  legal  relationship 
existing  before,  or,  more  correctly,  created  simul¬ 
taneously  with  the  State. 

The  gestor  thus  becomes  answerable  for  every 
form  of  negligence,  even  for  the  failure  of  business 
undertakings,  and  the  neglect  of  such  affairs  as  are 


SOCIETY  OF  JEWS  AND  JEWISH  STATE. 


81 


intimately  connected  with  them,  &c.  I  shall  not 
further  enlarge  on  the  negotiorum  gestio,  but  rather 
leave  it  to  the  State,  else  it  would  take  us  too  far 
from  the  main  subject.  One  remark  only:  “A  con¬ 
ducting  of  affairs  with  the  approbation  of  the  man 
of  business  is  just  as  effectual  as  if  it  had  originally 
been  carried  on  by  his  authority.” 

And  how  does  all  this  affect  our  case? 

The  Jewish  people  are  at  present  prevented  by 
the  diaspora  from  undertaking  the  management  of 
their  business  for  themselves.  At  the  present  time 
thev  are  in  a  condition  of  more  or  less  severe  clip- 
tress  in  many  parts  of  the  world.  They  need,  above 
all  things,  a  gestor. 

This  gestor  cannot,  of  course,  be  a  single  individ¬ 
ual.  Such  a  one  would  either  make  himself  ridic¬ 
ulous,  or — seeing  that  he  would  appear  to  be  work¬ 
ing  for  his  own  interests — contemptible. 

The  gestor  of  the  Jews  must  therefore  be  a  body 
corporate. 

And  that  is  the  Society  of  Jews. 

THE  GESTOR  OF  THE  JEWS. 

This  medium  of  the  national  movement,  the  na¬ 
ture  and  functions  of  which  we  are  at  last  touching 
upon,  will,  in  fact,  be  created  before  everything 
else.  Its  formation  is  perfectly  simple.  It  will 
take  shape  among  those  energetic  Jews  to  whom  I 
imparted  my  scheme  in  London.* 

*  This  refers  to  certain  members  of  the  Maccabaeans,  an  organ¬ 
ization  which,  three  months  after  the  publication  of  this  pamphlet, 
rejected  his  proposals. 


82 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


The  Society  of  Jews  is  the  point  of  departure  for 
the  whole  Jewish  movement  about  to  begin. 

The  Society  will  have  work  to  do  in  the  domains 
of  science  and  politics,  for  the  founding  of  a  Jewish 
State,  as  I  conceive  it,  presupposes  the  application 
of  scientific  methods.  We  cannot  journey  out  of 
Mizraim  to-day  in  the  primitive  fashion  of  ancient 
times.  We  shall  previously  obtain  an  accurate  ac¬ 
count  of  our  number  and  strength.  The  Society 
will  be  the  new  Moses  of  the  Jews.  The  undertak¬ 
ing  of  that  great  and  ancient  gestor  of  the  Jews  in 
primitive  days  bears  much  the  same  relation  to  ours 
that  an  old  opera  bears  to  a  modern  one.  We  are 
playing  the  same  melody  with  many  more  violins, 
flutes,  harps,  violoncellos,  and  bass-viols;  with  elec¬ 
tric  light,  decorations,  choirs,  beautiful  costumes, 
and  with  the  first  singers  of  their  day. 

This  pamphlet  is  intended  to  open  a  general  dis¬ 
cussion  on  the  Jewish  Question.  Friends  and  ene¬ 
mies  will  take  part  in  it;  but  it  will  no  longer,  1 
hope,  take  the  form  of  violent  abuse  or  of  senti¬ 
mental  vindication,  but  of  a  debate,  practical,  large, 
earnest  and  political. 

The  Society  of  Jews  will  gather  all  available  in¬ 
formation  from  statesmen,  parliaments,  Jewish 
communities;  from  speeches,  letters  and  meetings, 
newspapers  and  books. 

Thus  the  Society  will  find  out  for  the  first  time 
whether  the  Jews  really  wish  to  go  to  the  Promised 
Land,  and  whether  they  ought  to  go  there.  Every 
Jewish  community  in  the  world  will  send  contribu- 


SOCIETY  OF  JEWS  AND  JEWISH  STATE, 


83 


tions  to  the  Society  towards  a  comprehensive  col¬ 
lection  of  Jewish  statistics. 

Further  tasks,  such  as  investigation  by  experts 
of  the  new  country  and  its  natural  resources,  plan¬ 
ning  of  joint  migration  and  settlement,  preliminary 
work  for  legislation  and  administration,  &c.,  must 
be  judiciously  evolved  out  of  the  original  scheme. 

Externally,  the  Society  will  attempt,  as  I  ex¬ 
plained  before  in  the  general  part,  to  be  acknowl¬ 
edged  as  a  State-forming  power.  The  free  assent  of 
many  Jews  will  confer  on  it  the  requisite  authority 
in  its  relations  with  Governments. 

Internally,  that  is  to  say,  in  its  relations  wdth  the 
Jewish  people,  tlie  Society  will  create  all  the  first 
indispensable  institutions;  it  will  be  the  nucleus  out 
of  which  the  public  organisations  of  the  Jewish 
State  will  later  on  be  developed. 

Our  first  object  is,  as  I  said  before,  supremacy, 
assured  to  us  by  international  law,  over  a  portion 
of  the  globe  sufficiently  large  to  satisfy  our  just 
requirements. 

What  is  the  next  step? 

THE  OCCUPATION  OF  LAND. 

When  nations  wandered  in  historic  days  they  let 
chance  carry  them,  draw  them,  fling  them  hither 
and  thither,  and  like  swarms  of  locusts  they  settled 
down  indifferently  anywhere.  For  in  historic  days 
the  earth  was  not  known  to  man.  But  this  modern 

Jewish  migration  must  proceed  in  accordance  with 

► 

scientific  principles. 


84 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


Not  more  than  forty  years  ago  gold-digging  was 
carried  on  in  an  extraordinarily  primitive  fashion. 
What  adventurous  days  were  those  in  California! 
A  report  brought  desperadoes  together  from  every 
quarter  of  the  earth;  they  stole  pieces  of  land, 
robbed  each  other  of  gold,  and  finally  gambled  it 
away,  as  robbers  do. 

And  to-day!  What  is  gold-digging  like  in  the 
Transvaal  to-day?  Adventurous  vagabonds  are 
not  there;  sedate  geologists  and  engineers  alone  are 
on  the  spot  to  regulate  its  gold  industry,  and  to 
employ  ingenious  machinery  in  separating  the  ore 
from  surrounding  rock.  Little  is  left  to  chance 
now. 

Thus  we  must  investigate  and  take  possession  of 
the  new  Jewish  country  by  means  of  every  modern 
expedient. 

As  soon  as  we  have  secured  the  land  we  shall 
send  over  a  ship,  having  on  board  the  representa¬ 
tives  of  the  Society,  of  the  Company,  and  of  the 
local  groups,  who  will  enter  into  possession  at  once. 

These  men  will  have  three  tasks  to  perform: 
(1)  An  accurate,  scientific  investigation  of  all  nat¬ 
ural  resources  of  the  country;  (2)  The  organisation 
of  a  strictly  centralised  administration;  (3)  The  dis¬ 
tribution  of  land.  These  tasks  intersect  one  an¬ 
other,  and  will  all  be  carried  out  in  conformity  with 
the  now  familiar  object  in  view. 

One  thing  remains  to  be  explained — namely,  how 
the  occupation  of  land  according  to  local  groups  is 
to  take  place. 


SOCIETY  OF  JEWS  AND  JEWISH  STATE.  85 

In  America  the  occupation  of  newly  opened  terri¬ 
tory  is  set  about  in  most  naive  fashion.  The  set- 
tiers  assemble  on  the  frontier,  and  at  the  appointed 
time  make  a  simultaneous  and  violent  rush  for  their 
portions. 

We  shall  not  proceed  thus  in  the  new  land  of  the 
Jews.  The  lots  in  provinces  and  towns  will  be  sold 
by  auction,  and  paid  for,  not  in  money,  but  in  work. 
The  general  plan  will  have  settled  on  streets, 
bridges,  waterworks,  &c.,  necessary  -for  traffic. 
These  will  be  united  into  provinces.  Within  these 
provinces  sites  for  towns  will  be  similarly  sold  by 
auction.  The  local  groups  will  pledge  themselves 
to  carry  the  business  through  properly  and  will  pay 
expenses  out  of  the  funds  provided  for  their  self- 
government.  The  Society  will  be  in  a  position  to 
judge  whether  the  local  groups  are  not  venturing 
on  sacrifices  too  great  for  their  means.  Great  com¬ 
monwealths  keep  up  great  scenes  of  activity. 
Great  sacrifices  will  thus  be  rewarded  bv  the  estab- 

t / 

lishment  of  universities,  technical  schools,  acad¬ 
emies,  &c.,  and  these  Government  institutions  will 
not  be  concentrated  in  the  capital,  but  distributed 
over  the  country. 

The  personal  interests  of  the  buyers,  and,  if  neces¬ 
sary,  the  local  authorities,  will  guarantee  the  proper- 
working  of  what  has  been  taken  over.  In  the  same 
way  as  we  cannot,  and  indeed  do  not  wish  to,  ob¬ 
literate  distinctions  between  single  individuals,  so 
the  differences  between  local  groups  will  also  con¬ 
tinue  to  be  marked.  Everything  will  shape  itself 
quite  naturally.  All  acquired  rights  will  be  pro- 


86 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


tected,  and  every  new  development  will  be  given 
sufficient  scope. 

Our  people  will  be  made  thoroughly  acquainted 
with  all  these  matters. 

We  shall  not  take  others  unawares  or  mislead 
them,  any  more  than  we  shall  deceive  ourselves. 

Everything  must  be  systematically  settled  before¬ 
hand.  I  merely  indicate  this  scheme,  our  acutest 
thinkers  will  combine  in  elaborating  it.  Every 
sociological  and  technical  acquirement  of  our  age, 
and  of  the  more  advanced  age  which  wTill  be 
reached  before  the  slow  execution  of  my  plan  is 
accomplished,  must  be  employed  for  this  objects 
Every  valuable  invention  which  exists  now,  or  lies 

in  the  future,  must  be  used.  By  these  means  a 

% 

country  can  be  occupied  and  a  State  founded  in  a 
manner  as  yet  unknown  to  history,  and  with  possi¬ 
bilities  of  success  such  as  never  occurred  before. 

CONSTITUTION. 

One  of  the  great  committees  which  the  Society 
will  have  to  appoint  will  be  the  council  of  jurists 
of  the  State.  These  must  formulate  the  best,  that 
is,  the  best  modern  constitution  possible.  I  believe 
that  a  good  constitution  should  be  of  moderately 
elastic  nature.  In  another  work  I  have  explained 
in  detail  what  forms  of  government  I  hold  to  be  the 
best.  I  think  a  democratic  monarchy  and  an- aris¬ 
tocratic  republic  are  the  two  most  superior  forms 
of  a  State,  because  in  them  the  form  of  State  and 
the  principle  of  government  are  opposed  to  one  an¬ 
other,  and  thus  preserve  a  true  balance  of  power 


SOCIETY  OF  JEWS  AND  JEWISH  STATE. 


87 


I  am  a  staunch  supporter  of  monarchical  institu¬ 
tions,  because  these  allow  of  a  consistent  policy, 
and  represent  the  interests  of  a  historically  famous 
family  born  and  educated  to  rule,  whose  desires  are 
bound  up  with  the  preservation  of  the  State.  But 
our  history  has  been  too  long  interrupted  for  us  to 
attempt  direct  continuity  of  ancient  constitutional 

forms  without  exposing  ourselves  to  the  charge  of 
absurdity. 

A  democracy  without  a  sovereign’s  useful  coun¬ 
terpoise  is  extreme  in  appreciation  and  condemna¬ 
tion,  tends  to  idle  discussion  in  parliaments,  and 
produces  that  objectionable  class  of  men,  profes¬ 
sional  politicians.  Nations  are  also  really  not  fit 
for  unlimited  democracy  at  present,  and  will  be¬ 
come  less  and  less  fitted  for  it  in  the  future.  For  a 
pure  democracy  presupposes  a  predominance  of 
simple  customs,  and  our  customs  become  daily  more 
complex  with  the  growth  of  commerce  and  increase 
of  culture.  “Le  ressort  d’une  democratic  est  la 
vertu,”  said  wise  Montesquieu.  And  where  is  this 
virtue,  that  is  to  say,  this  political  virtue,  to  be  met 
with?  I  do  not  believe  in  our  political  virtue;  first- 
ly,  because  we  are  no  better  than  the  rest  of  modern 
humanity;  and,  secondly,  because  freedom  will 
make  us  show  our  fighting  qualities  at  first.  I  also 
hold  a  settling  of  questions  by  the  public  voice  to 
be  a  foolish  proceeding,  because  there  are  no  simple 
political  questions  which  can  be  settled  by  Ayes 
and  Noes.  The  masses  are  also  more  prone  even 
than  parliaments  to  be  led  away  by  heterodox  opin¬ 
ions,  and  to  be  swayed  by  vigorous  ranting.  It  is 


88 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


impossible  to  formulate  a  wise  internal  or  external 
policy  in  a  popular  assembly. 

Politics  must  take  shape  in  the  upper  strata  and 
work  downwards.  But  no  member  of  the  Jewish 
State  will  be  oppressed,  every  man  will  be  able  and 
desirous  to  rise  in  it.  Thus  a  great  upward  ten¬ 
dency  will  pass  through  our  people,  every  individ¬ 
ual,  by  trying  to  raise  himself,  raising  also  the 
whole  body  of  citizens.  The  ascent  will  take  a 
moral  form,  useful  to  the  State  and  serviceable  to 
the  National  Idea. 

Hence  I  incline  to  an  aristocratic  republic.  This 
would  satisfy  the  ambitious  spirit  in  our  people, 
which  lias  now  degenerated  into  foolish  arrogance. 
Many  of  the  institutions  of  Venice  pass  through  my 
mind;  but  all  that  in  them  caused  the  ruin  of 
Venice  must  be  carefully  avoided.  We  shall  learn 
from  the  historic  mistakes  of  others,  in  the  same 
way  as  we  learn  from  our  own;  for  we  are  a  modern 
nation,  and  wish  to  be  the  most  modern  in  the 
world.  Our  people,  who  are  receiving  the  new 
country  from  the  Society,  will  also  thankfully  ac¬ 
cept  the  new  constitution  it  offers  them.  Should 
they,  however,  show  signs  of  rebellion  they  will  be 
promptly  crushed.  The  Society  cannot  permit  the 
exercise  of  its  functions  to  be  interrupted  by  short¬ 
sighted  or  ill-disposed  individuals. 

LANGUAGE. 

It  might  be  suggested  that  our  want  of  a  common 
current  language  would  present  difficulties.  We 


SOCIETY  OF  JEWS  AND  JEWISH  STATE. 


89 


♦ 

cannot  converse  with  one  another  in  Hebrew.  Who 
amongst  us  has  a  sufficient  acquaintance  with  He¬ 
brew  to  ask  for  a  railway-ticket  in  that  language? 
Such  a  thing  cannot  be  done.*  Yet  the  difficulty  is 
very  easily  circumvented.  Every  man  can  preserve 
the  language  in  which  his  thoughts  are  at  home. 
Switzerland  affords  a  conclusive  proof  of  the  possi¬ 
bility  of  a  federation  of  tongues.  We  shall  remain 
in  the  new  country  what  we  now  are  here,  and  we 
shall  never  cease  to  cherish  the  memory  of  the  na¬ 
tive  land  out  of  wffiich  we  have  been  driven. 

We  shall  give  up  using  those  miserable,  stunted 
jargons,  those  Ghetto  languages  which  we  still  em¬ 
ploy,  for  ours  was  the  stealthy  speech  of  prisoners. 
Our  national  teachers  will  give  due  attention  to  this 
matter;  and  the  language  which  proves  itself  to  be 
of  greatest  utility  for  general  intercourse  will  be 
adopted  without  compulsion  as  our  national  tongue. 
Our  communal  tie  is  peculiar  and  unique,  for  we  are 
bound  together  only  by  the  faith  of  our  fathers. 

THEOCRACY. 

Shall  we  end  by  having  a  theocracy?  No  indeed 
Faith  unites  us,  knowledge  gives  us  freedom.  We 
shall  therefore  prevent  any  theocratic  tendencies 
from  coming  to  the  fore  on  the  part  of  our  priest¬ 
hood.  We  shall  keep  our  priests  within  the  con¬ 
fines  of  their  temples  in  the  same  way  as  w^e  shall 
keep  our  volunteer  forces  within  the  confines  of 

*  The  author  changed  this  view  when  the  feasibility  of  Hebrew 
as  a  living  language  was  demonstrated  to  him. 


90 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


their  barracks.  Army  and  priesthood  shall  receive 
honours  as  high  as  their  valuable  functions  deserve. 
But  they  must  not  interfere  in  the  administration 
of  the  State  which  confers  distinction  upon  them, 
else  they  will  conjure  up  difficulties  without  and 
within. 

Every  man  will  be  as  free  and  undisturbed  in  his 
faith  or  his  disbelief  as  he  is  in  his  nationality. 
And  if  it  should  occur  that  men  of  different  creeds 
and  different  nationalities  came  to  live  amongst  us, 
we  should  accord  them  honourable  protection,  and 
equality  before  the  law.  We  learnt  toleration  in 
Europe.  This  is  not  sarcastically  said;  for  the 
Anti-Semitism  of  to-day  could  in  very  fewr  places 
be  taken  for  old  religious  intolerance.  It  is  for 
the  most  part  a  movement  among  civilised  nations 
by  which  they  try  to  chase  away  the  spectres  of 
their  own  past. 


LAWS. 

When  the  idea  of  a  State  begins  to  approach  real¬ 
isation,  the  Society  of  Jews  will  appoint  a  council 
of  jurists  to  do  the  preparatory  work  of  legislation. 
During  the  transition  period  these  must  act  on  the 
principle  that  every  emigrant  Jew  is  to  be  judged 
according  to  the  laws  of  the  country  which  he  has 
left.  But  they  must  try  to  bring  about  a  uni¬ 
fication  of  these  various  laws  to  form  a  modern  svs- 

•/ 

tern  of  legislation  based  on  the  best  portions  of  pre¬ 
vious  systems.  This  might  become  a  typical  codi¬ 
fication,  responsive  to  all  the  just  social  claims  of 
the  present  day. 


SOCIETY  OF  JEWS  AND  JEWISH  STATE. 


91 


THE  ARMY. 


The  Jewish  State  is  conceived  as  a  neutral  one. 
It  will  therefore  require  only  an  army  of  volun¬ 
teers,  equipped,  of  course,  with  every  requisite  of 
modern  warfare,  to  preserve  order  internally  and 
externally. 

THE  BANNER.* 

We  have  no  banner,  and  we  need  one.  If  we  de¬ 
sire  to  lead  men  forward,  we  must  raise  an  emblem 
above  their  heads. 

I  would  suggest  a  white  banner,  bearing  seven 
golden  stars.  The  white  field  symbolising  our  pure 
new  life;  the  seven  stars,  the  seven  golden  hours 
of  our  working-day.  For  we  shall  march  into  the 
Promised  Land  carrying  the  badge  of  labour. 


RECIPROCITY  AND  CARTELS. 


The  Jewish  State  must  be  properly  founded,  with 
due  regard  to  our  future  honourable  position  in  the 
world.  Therefore  every  obligation  in  the  old  coun¬ 
try  must  be  scrupulously  fulfilled  before  leaving. 
The  Society  of  Jews  and  Jewish  Company  will 


grant  cheap  passage  and  certain  advantages  in  set¬ 
tlement  to  those  only  who  can  present  an  official 
testimonial  from  their  local  authorities,  certifying 
that  they  have  left  their  affairs  in  good  order. 

E^ery  just  private  claim  originating  in  the  aban¬ 
doned  countries  will  be  heard  more  readily  in  the 


whiTehlwithdfhe  Shdeld°ffUDavidthh  Congress-  '  The  blue  and 

was  designed  in  1880.  ’  ^as  been  generally  accepted,  and 


92 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


Jewish  State  than  anywhere  else.  We  shall  not 
wait  for  reciprocity;  we  shall  act  purely  for  the 
sake  of  our  own  honour.  We  shall  thus  perhaps 
find,  later  on,  that  strange  law  courts  will  be  more 
willing  to  hear  our  claims  than  now  seems  to  be 
the  case  in  some  places. 

It  will  be  inferred,  as  a  matter  of  course,  from 
foregone  remarks,  that  we  shall  deliver  up  Jewish 
criminals  more  readily  than  any  other  State  would 
do,  till  the  time  comes  when  we  can  enforce  our 
penal  code  on  the  same  principles  as  every  other 
civilised  nation  does.  There  will  therefore  be  a 
period  of  transition,  during  which  we  shall  receive 
our  criminals  only  after  they  have  suffered  due  pen¬ 
alties.  But,  having  made  amends,  they  will  be  re¬ 
ceived  without  any  restrictions  whatever,  for  our 
criminals  also  must  enter  upon  a  new  life. 

Thus  emigration  may  become  to  many  Jews  a 
crisis  with  a  happy  issue.  Bad  external  circum¬ 
stances,  which  ruin  many  a  character,  will  be  re¬ 
moved,  and  this  change  may  mean  salvation  to 
manv  who  are  lost. 

e/ 

Here  I  should  like  briefly  to  relate  a  story  I  came 
across  in  an  account  of  the  gold  mines  of  Wit- 
watersrand.  One  day  a  man  came  to  the  rand,  set¬ 
tled  there,  tried  his  hand  at  various  things,  with 
the  exception  of  gold-mining,  till  he  founded  an  ice 
factory,  which  did  well.  He  won  universal  esteem 
by  his  respectability,  till  one  day  he  was  suddenly 
arrested.  He  had  committed  some  defalcations  as 
banker  in  Frankfort,  had  fled  from  there,  and  had 
begun  a  new  life  under  an  assumed  name.  But 


SOCIETY  OF  JEWS  AND  JEWISH  STATE. 


93 


when  he  was  led  away  as  prisoner,  the  chief  local 
dignitaries  appeared  at  the  station,  bade  him  a  cor¬ 
dial  farewell,  and  au  revoir! — for  he  was  certain 
to  return. 

What  does  not  this  story  reveal!  A  new  life  can 
regenerate  even  criminals,  and  we  have  a  propor¬ 
tionated  small  number  of  these.  Some  interesting 
statistics  on  this  point  are  w^orth  reading,  entitled, 
“The  Criminality  of  Jews  in  Germany,”  by  Dr.  P. 
Nathan,  of  Berlin,  who  was  commissioned  by  the 
“Society  for  Defence  against  Anti-Semitism”  to 
make  a  collection  of  statistics  based  on  official  re¬ 
turns.  It  is  true  that  this  pamphlet,  which  teems 
with  figures,  arises,  as  does  many  another  “de¬ 
fence,”  out  of  the  error  that  Anti-Semitism  can  be 
subdued  by  reasonable  arguments.  We  are  proba- 
blv  disliked  as  much  for  our  gifts  as  we  are  for  our 
faults. 

♦  - 

BENEFITS  OF  THE  IMMIGBATION  OF  THE 

JEWS. 

I  imagine  that  Governments  will,  either  volun¬ 
tarily  or  under  pressure  from  the  Anti-Semites,  pay 
certain  attention  to  this  scheme;  and  they  may  per¬ 
haps  actually  receive  it  here  and  there  with  a  sym¬ 
pathy  which  they  will  also  show  to  the  Society  of 
Jews. 

For  the  emigration  wffiicli  I  suggest  will  not  cre¬ 
ate  any  economic  crises.  Such  crises  as  would  fol¬ 
low  everywhere  in  consequence  of  Jew-baiting 
would  rather  be  prevented  by  the  carrying  out  of 


94 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


my  plan.  A  great  period  of  prosperity  would  com¬ 
mence  in  countries  which  are  now  Anti-Semitic. 
For  there  will  be,  as  I  have  repeatedly  said,  an  in¬ 
termigration  of  Christian  citizens  into  the  positions 
slowly  and  systematically  evacuated  by  the  Jews. 
If  we  are  not  merely  suffered,  but  actually  assisted 
to  do  this,  the  movement  will  have  a  generally  bene¬ 
ficial  effect.  That  is  a  narrow  view  which  sees  in 
the  departure  of  many  Jews  a  consequent  impover¬ 
ishment  of  countries.  Different  is  a  departure 
which  is  a  result  of  persecution,  for  here  property 
is  indeed  destroyed,  as  it  is  ruined  in  the  confusion 
of  war.  Different  again  is  the  peaceable  voluntary 
departure  of  colonists,  wherein  everything  is  car¬ 
ried  out  with  due  consideration  for  acquired  rights, 
and5  with  absolute  conformity  to  law,  openly  and 
by  light  of  day,  under  the  supervision  of  authority 
and  the  control  of  public  opinion.  The  emigration 
of  Christian  proletariats  to  different  parts  of  the 
world  would  be  definitely  brought  to  a  standstill  by 
the  Jewish  movement. 

The  States  would  have  a  further  advantage  in 
the  enormous  increase  of  their  export  trade;  for, 
since  the  emigrant  Jews  “over  there”  would  depend 
for  a  long  time  to  come  on  European  productions, 
the  States  would  necessarily  have  to  provide  them. 
The  local  groups  would  keep  up  a  just  balance,  and 
the  customary  needs  would  have  to  be  supplied  for 
a  long  time  at  the  accustomed  places. 

Another,  and  perhaps  one  of  the  greatest  advan¬ 
tages,  would  be  the  ensuing  social  relief.  Social 


SOCIETY  OF  JEWS  AND  JEWISH  STATE. 


95 


dissatisfaction  would  be  appeased  during  the  twen¬ 
ty  or  more  years  which  the  emigration  of  the  Jews 
would  occupy,  and  would  in  any  case  be  set  at  rest 
during  the  whole  transition  period. 

The  shape  which  the  social  question  may  take 
depends  entirely  on  the  development  of  our  tech¬ 
nical  contrivances.  Steam-power  concentrated  men 
in  factories  about  machinery,  where  they  were  over¬ 
crowded,  and  where  they  made  one  another  miser¬ 
able  by  overcrowding.  Our  present  enormous,  in¬ 
judicious  and  unsystematic  rate  of  production  is 
the  cause  of  continual  severe  crises  which  ruin  both 
managers  and  employes.  Steam  crowded  men  to¬ 
gether;  electricity  will  probably  scatter  them  again, 
and  may  perhaps  bring  about  a  more  prosperous 
condition  of  the  labour  market.  In  any  case,  our 
scientific  discoverers,  who  are  the  true  benefactors 
of  humanity,  will  continue  their  labours  after  the 
commencement  of  the  emigration  of  the  Jews,  and 
they  will  discover  things  as  marvellous  as  those  we 
have  already  seen,  or  indeed  more  wonderful  even 
than  these. 

The  word  “impossible”  has  ceased  to  exist  for  our 
men  of  science.  Were  a  man  who  lived  in  the  last 
century  to  return  to  the  earth,  he  would  find  the  life 
of  to-day  full  of  incomprehensible  magic.  Wher¬ 
ever  we  moderns  appear  with  our  inventions,  we 
transform  the  desert  into  a  garden.  To  build  a 
city  takes  in  our  time  as  many  years  as  it  formerly 
required  centuries;  America  offers  endless  examples 
of  this.  Distance  has  ceased  to  be  an  obstacle. 
The  spirit  of  our  age  has  gathered  fabulous  treas- 


96 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


ures  into  its  storehouse.  Every  day  this  wealth 
increases.  A  hundred  thousand  heads  are  occu¬ 
pied  with  speculations  and  research  at  every  point 
of  the  globe,  and  the  discovery  of  one  becomes,  ere 
long,  the  property  of  the  whole  world.  We  our¬ 
selves  will  use  and  carry  on  every  new  attempt  in 
our  Jewish  State;  we  shall  introduce  the  seven- 
hours  day  as  an  experiment  for  the  good  of  human¬ 
ity;  and  we  shall  proceed  in  everything  else  in  the 
same  humane  spirit,  making  of  the  new  land  a  land 
of  experiments  and  a  model  State. 

The  undertakings  made  by  the  Jews  will  remain, 
after  their  managers’  departure,  where  they  origi¬ 
nally  were  founded.  And  the  Jewish  spirit  of  en¬ 
terprise  will  not  even  fail  there  where  people  wel¬ 
come  it.  For  Jewish  capitalists  will  be  glad  to 
invest  their  funds  where  they  are  familiar  with  sur 
rounding  conditions.  And  whereas  Jewish  money 
is  now  sent  out  of  countries  on  account  of  existing 
persecutions,  and  is  sunk  in  most  distant  foreign 
undertakings,  it  will  flow  back  again  in  consequence 
of  this  peaceable  solution,  and  will  help  further  to 
raise  the  status  of  the  countries  which  the  Jews 
have  left. 


•  V 


CONCLUSION 

How  much  has  been  left  unexplained,  how  many 
defects,  how  many  regrettable  signs  of  careless¬ 
ness,  how  many  useless  repetitions,  in  the  pamphlet 
which  I  have  so  long  considered  and  so  carefully 
revised! 

But  a  fair-minded  reader,  who  has  sufficient  un- 
derstanding  to  grasp  the  spirit  of  my  words,  will 
not  be  repelled  by  these  defects.  He  will  rather 
be  roused  thereby  to  devote  his  intelligence  nnd 
energy  to  the  improvement  of  a  work  which  is  not 
one  man’s  task  alone. 

Have  I  not  explained  obvious  things  and  over¬ 
looked  important  considerations? 

I  have  tried  to  meet  certain  objections;  but  1 
know  that  many  more  will  be  made,  based  on  high 
grounds  and  low. 

To  the  first  class  of  objections  belongs  the  re¬ 
mark,  that  the  Jews  are  not  the  only  people  in  the 
world  who  are  in  a  condition  of  distress.  Here  I 
would  reply  that  we  may  as  well  begin  by  removing 
some  of  this  misery,  even  if  it  should  at  first  be  no 
more  than  our  own. 


98 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


It  might  further  be  said  that  we  ought  not  to 
create  distinctions  betweenjpeople;  we  ought  not  to 
raise  fresh  barriers;  we  should  rather  make  the  old 
disappear.  But  men  who  think  in  this  way  are 
amiable  visionaries;  and  the  idea  of  a  native  land 
will  still  flourish  when  the  dust  of  their  bones  will 
have  vanished  tracelessly  in  the  winds.  Universal 
brotherhood  is  not  even  a  beautiful  dream.  An¬ 
tagonism  is  essential  to  man’s  greatest  efforts. 

But  the  Jews,  once  settled  in  their  own  State, 
would  probably  have  no  more  enemies,  and  since 
prosperity  enfeebles  and  causes  them  to  diminish, 
they  would  soon  disappear  altogether.  I  think  the 
Jews  will  alwavs  have  sufficient  enemies,  much  as 

7 

every  other  nation  has.  But  once  fixed  on  their 
own  land,  it  will  no  longer  be  possible  for  them  to 
scatter  all  over  the  world.  The  diaspora  cannot 
take  place  again,  unless  the  civilisation  of  the 
wdiole  earth  is  destroyed;  and  such  a  consumma¬ 
tion  could  be  feared  by  none  but  foolish  men.  Our 
present  civilisation  possesses  weapons  powerful 
enough  for  its  self-defence. 

Innumerable  objections  will  be  based  on  low 
grounds,  for  there  are  more  low  men  than  noble  in 
this  world.  I  have  tried  to  remove  some  of  these 
narrow-minded  notions;  and  whoever  is  willing  to 
fall  in  behind  our  white  flag  with  its  seven  golden 
stars  must  assist  in  this  campaign  of  enlighten¬ 
ment.  Perhaps  we  shall  have  to  fight  first  of  all 
against  many  an  evil-disposed,  narrow-hearted, 
short-sighted  member  of  our  own  race. 


CONCLUSION. 


99 


Again,  people  will  say  that  I  am  furnishing  the 
Anti-Semites  with  weapons.  Why  so?  Because  I 
admit  the  truth?  Because  I  do  not  maintain  that 
there  are  none  but  excellent  men  amongst  us? 

Again,  people  will  say  that  I  am  showing  our 
enemies  the  way  to  injure  us.  This  I  absolutely 
dispute.  My  proposal  could  only  be  carried  out 
with  the  free  consent  of  a  majority  of  Jews.  Indi 
viduals  or  even  powerful  bodies  of  Jews  might  be 
attacked,  but  Governments  will  take  no  action 
against  the  collective  nation.  The  equal  rights  of 
Jews  before  the  law  cannot  be  withdrawn  w-here 
they  have  once  been  conceded;  for  the  first  attempt 
at  withdrawal  would  immediately  drive  all  Jews, 
rich  and  poor  alike,  into  the  ranks  of  the  revolu 
tionary  party.  The  first  official  violation  of  Jewish 
liberties  invariably  brings  about  an  economic  crisis 
Therefore  no  weapons  can  be  effectually  used 
against  us,  because  these  cut  the  hands  that  wield 
them.  Meantime  hatred  grows  apace.  The  rich 
do  not  feel  it  much,  but  our  poor  do.  Let  us  ask 
our  poor,  who  have  been  more  severely  persecuted 
since  the  last  renewal  of  Anti-Semitism  than  ever 
before. 

Our  prosperous  men  may  say  that  the  pressure  is 
not  yet  severe  enough  to  justify  emigration,  and 
that  every  forcible  expulsion  showrs  how  unwilling 
our  people  are  to  depart.  True,  because  they  do 
not  know  where  to  go;  because  they  only  pass  from 
one  trouble  into  another.  But  we  are  showing 
them  the  way  to  the  Promised  Land;  and  the  splen- 


100 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


did  force  of  enthusiasm  must  fight  against  the  ter 
rible  force  of  habit. 

Persecutions  are  no  longer  so  malignant  as  they 
were  in  the  Middle  Ages.  True,  but  our  sensitive 
ness  has  increased,  so  that  we  feel  no  diminution  ia 
our  sufferings;  endless  persecution  has  overstrained 
our  nerves. 

Will  people  say,  again,  that  our  enterprise  is 
hopeless,  because  even  if  we  obtained  the  land  with 
supremacy  over  it,  the  poor  only  would  go  with  us? 
It  is  precisely  the  poorest  whom  we  need  at  first 
Only  desperadoes  make  good  conquerors. 

Will  some  one  say,  Were  it  feasible,  it  would  have 
been  done  long  ago? 

It  has  never  yet  been  possible;  now  it  is  possible 
A  hundred,  or  even  fifty  years  ago,  it  would  have 
been  nothing  more  than  a  dream.  To-day  it  may 
become  a  reality.  Our  rich,  who  have  a  pleasurable 
acquaintance  with  all  our  technical  acquisitions, 
know  full  well  how  much  money  can  do.  And  thus 
it  will  be:  just  the  poor  and  simple,  who  do  not 
know  what  power  man  already  exercises  over  the 
forces  of  nature,  just  these  will  have  firmest  faith 
in  the  new  message;  for  these  have  never  lost  their 
hope  of  the  Promised  Land. 

Here  it  is,  fellow- Jews!  Neither  fable  nor  fraud! 
Every  man  may  test  its  reality  for  himself,  for 
every  man  will  carry  with  him  a  portion  of  the 
Promised  Land — one  in  his  head,  another  in  his 
arms,  another  in  his  acquired  possessions. 

Now  all  this  may  appear  to  be  an  interminably 
long  affair.  Even  under  favourable  circumstances 


CONCLUSION. 


101 


many  years  might  elapse  before  the  commencement 
of  the  foundation  of  the  State.  Meantime,  Jews  in 
a  hundred  different  places  would  suffer  insults, 
mortification,  abuse,  blows,  depredation  and  death. 
Not  so,  the  initial  steps  towards  the  execution  of 
the  plan  would  stop  Anti-Semitism  at  once  and  for 
ever.  Ours  is  a  treaty  of  peace. 

The  news  of  the  formation  of  our  Jewish  Com¬ 
pany  will  be  carried  in  a  single  day  to  the  remotest 
ends  of  the  earth  by  the  lightning  speed  of  our 
telegraph  wires. 

And  immediate  relief  will  ensue.  The  mediocre 
intellects  which  we  produce  so  superabundantly  in 
our  middle  classes  will  find  an  outlet  in  our  first 
organisations,  as  our  first  scientists,  officers,  pro¬ 
fessors,  officials,  lawyers,  and  doctors,  and  thus  the 
movement  will  continue  in  swfift  but  smooth  pro¬ 
gression. 

Prayers  will  be  offered  up  for  the  success  of  our 
work  in  temples  and  in  churches  also;  for  it  will 
bring  ease  from  a  burden  which  has  long  weighed 
on  all  men. 

But  we  must  first  bring  enlightenment  to  men’s 
minds.  The  idea  must  make  its  way  into  the  most 
distant,  miserable  holes  where  our  people  dwell. 
They  will  awaken  from  gloomy  brooding,  for  into 
their  lives  will  come  a  new  significance.  If  every 
man  thinks  only  of  himself,  what  vast  proportions 
the  movement  will  assume! 

And  what  glory  awaits  those  who  fight  unselfishly 
for  the  cause! 


102 


A  JEWISH  STATE. 


Therefore  I  believe  that  a  wondrous  generation 
of  Jews  will  spring  into  existence.  The  Macca- 
baeans  will  rise  again. 

Let  me  repeat  once  more  my  opening  words:  The 
Jews  wish  to  have  a  State,  and  they  shall  have  one. 
We  shall  live  at  last  as  free  men  on  our  own  soil, 

and  die  peacefully  in  our  own  home. 

% 

The  world  will  be  freed  by  our  liberty,  enriched 
by  our  wTealth,  magnified  by  our  greatness. 

And  whatever  we  attempt  there  to  accomplish 
for  our  own  welfare  will  react  with  beneficent  force 
for  the  good  of  humanity. 


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